Pirates' Paul Skenes receives ERA and strikeout prediction with Cy Young implications

The Pittsburgh Pirates have one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball on their roster in Paul Skenes. The young righty just won his first Cy Young Award last year, and if he continues to pitch as well as he has, it won't be his last.

Entering his third season in the Majors, what are the chances Skenes can win his second Cy Young Award? Those odds are solid, and most MLB.com staff members believe such a future is in store for Skenes.

Manny Randhawa of MLB.com shared that 57 MLB.com staff members predicted that Skenes would finish with both the best ERA among all National League pitchers and the most strikeouts of any NL pitcher. Such a year would likely lead to another Cy Young.

Paul Skenes predicted to lead NL in ERA, strikeouts

"He doesn't yet even know what it's like to have an ERA over 2.00," Randhawa writes, "and there's no reason to think he won't continue to lead the way in the ERA department."

ERA isn't the only statistic MLB.com staff members predicted Skenes would finish atop the NL. "Skenes again ran away with the top spot in this category," Randhawa writes. "He eclipsed the 200-strikeout mark last season, and he has a career K rate of 31%."

Skenes had a 1.97 ERA with 216 strikeouts across 32 starts during the 2025 season in his first Cy Young season. He could have a great 2026 season, better than his already impressive 2025, and it wouldn't be a surprise.

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In 2024, his rookie year across 23 starts, Skenes had a 1.96 ERA with 170 strikeouts despite a shorter season in year one.

Skenes, entering the third season of his MLB career, could be in store for another massive year. Finishing atop the NL in ERA and strikeouts would not be a surprise at all.

While pitchers like Cristopher Sanchez, Logan Webb, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are incredible, they haven't been as good as Skenes, and it will be difficult for those pitchers to outplay Skenes as long as everyone is healthy.

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