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Around the Curve | Paul Skenes Wins Rookie of the Year Award

Skenes becomes the first Altoona Curve alum to win the award.
By Preston Shoemaker
November 18, 2024

CURVE, Pa. – Paul Skenes has gone from college phenom to rookie sensation in a year’s time, and the accolades are just beginning to pile up. After a dominant campaign that stacks up as one of the best rookie seasons by a pitcher in Major League history, Skenes has been

CURVE, Pa. – Paul Skenes has gone from college phenom to rookie sensation in a year’s time, and the accolades are just beginning to pile up.

After a dominant campaign that stacks up as one of the best rookie seasons by a pitcher in Major League history, Skenes has been named the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year, defeating San Diego’s Jackson Merrill and Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio. He is the first Altoona Curve alum to win the award.

In 23 starts, Skenes went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA for the Pirates this season. He never allowed more than four earned runs or six hits in an outing and set a Pirates rookie record with 170 strikeouts in 133 innings pitched. He is the second Pirates player to win this award, joining Jason Bay (2004).

He became the first player in MLB history to start an All-Star Game the season after he was drafted No. 1 overall and just the fifth rookie to start the game on the mound. He joined Gerrit Cole as the only Altoona Curve pitchers to start the All-Star Game.

He is the first pitcher in Major League history to have an ERA below 2.20 and over 150 strikeouts through his first 21 games. Skenes was also the second player to have an ERA below 2.00 through their first 22 appearances since 1913.

Skenes, who is also a finalist for the National League Cy Young Award, is the first starting pitcher to win Rookie of the Year since Michael Fulmer won for Detroit in 2016. Shohei Ohtani won the award in 2018 as a designated hitter while making 10 starts on the mound for the Angels, and Devin Williams won as a relief pitcher for Milwaukee in 2020. He is just the fifth No. 1 overall draft pick to win the award, joining Carlos Correa (2015), Bryce Harper (2012), Darryl Strawberry (1983), and Bob Horner (1978).

Skenes was also named to the All-MLB First Team, joining Cole as the second Curve alum to earn the honor. This award began in 2019, and Cole has been recognized four times since. Skenes was one of five starting pitchers chosen across both the American and National leagues.

The Cy Young Award winners will be announced on Wednesday, where Skenes could become just the second pitcher to sweep the awards in the same season, joining the Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela, who achieved the feat in 1981.

The last Pirate to finish in the top four of Cy Young voting was...you guessed it, Gerrit Cole in 2015. Cole is the only Curve alum to win the Cy Young, earning the American League award last season.

Skenes became a household name in his first Major League campaign and is on a path that could make him one of the top faces in the game for years to come.