Pittsburgh Pirates Ace Paul Skenes Seeks To Become LSU's First Cy Young Award Winner

BATON ROUGE, La. – Pittsburgh Pirates ace right-hander Paul Skenes seeks to become the first former LSU pitcher to claim the Cy Young Award, as the National League and American League winners will be announced at 6 p.m. CT on Wednesday, November 12, on the MLB Network.

Skenes, who helped lead LSU to the 2023 NCAA College World Series National Championship, joins Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cristopher Sánchez of the Philadelphia Phillies as the 2025 National League Cy Young Award finalists.

A native of Lake Forest, Calif., Skenes was also a National League Cy Young Award finalist in 2024 and finished third in last season’s voting. He was voted the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year, and he has been the NL starting pitcher in each of the past two All-Star Games.

The Pirates phenom won the MLB ERA crown this season with a 1.97 mark, making him the first qualified pitcher with an ERA under 2.00 since Justin Verlander in 2022. Skenes also collected 216 strikeouts this season, tied for second-most in the NL, in 187.2 innings.

Skenes is the third former LSU pitcher to become a Cy Young Award finalist, joining right-hander Aaron Nola of the Philadelphia Phillies, who finished third in the 2018 National League Cy Young voting, and right-hander Kevin Gausman of the Toronto Blue Jays, who finished third in the 2023 American League Cy Young voting.

(Release via LSU Athletics)