PITTSBURGH -- It’s going to be a busy award season for Paul Skenes once the season wraps, and he picked up his first two before the Pirates kicked off their final home series Friday.
Skenes was named the recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award for team MVP and the Steve Blass Award for the Pirates’ best pitcher before their 4-3 loss to the Athletics, as voted on by the Pittsburgh chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He was a unanimous selection for both awards, and he is the first pitcher to be voted team MVP since the Steve Blass Award was introduced in 2012.
For someone who came into the year with the highest of expectations placed on him -- both personally and externally -- it’s hard to do much better than being the best pitcher and player on the team. Come award season, the odds are good that he’ll also be recognized as the best pitcher in the National League with the Cy Young Award.
“I don’t really come into the year with any expectations in terms of numbers and anything like that for myself,” Skenes said. “I pitched pretty well this year, but I’ve grown a lot and I’ve learned a lot. That’s the thing I’m most excited about. I learned what I need to do and then also what we need to do. It’s been a solid year for me, but there’s room for us to get better, so we need to focus on that in the offseason.”
Getting better has been Skenes M.O. since well before the Pirates selected him first overall in the 2023 Draft. And while the ERA and strikeout rates have remained as pristine as ever, manager Don Kelly has seen growth in areas that aren’t exactly evident watching him on the days he throws. Some of that is his game preparation and recovery, but there is also the leadership aspect, vocalizing team expectations and how the team should go about aspects of the work day.
“Just the way that he leads himself first and then carries himself that way, works like that, dominates on the field,” Kelly said, “it gives him that voice to be able to have those conversations with other people.”
It goes without saying that, as a team, the Pirates fell short of their goals this season. They will still boast one of the best rotations in baseball next year, anchored by Skenes but supported with young pitchers like Bubba Chandler, Braxton Ashcraft, Mike Burrows and the hopeful return of Jared Jones, but as Skenes pointed out, “we thought that coming into this year too.”
That warranted a follow up asking what needed to be done -- either individually or as a team -- to bridge that gap and reach that collective team goal of being a contender. Skenes admitted he didn’t know, but he had ideas.
“Winning, a lot of it comes down to what you're willing to give up, what you're willing to sacrifice,” Skenes said. “I think, as a group, it's going to take more sacrifices from us. I say that broadly, but I think that's a big piece. There are guys that didn't play as well as they had hoped this year. Didn't play as well as they expected to. Like I said, we knew that coming into this year too. … Not necessarily the same guys as this year, but there's room to get better in this locker room. We just need to do it.
“I'm sure we'll get some pieces and do all that, but my mind right now is what can we do within the locker room to get better, now and for next year. There's urgency to it, and we need to understand that and act on it."
Skenes knows that includes trying to find a way to get better himself. He doesn’t know how or what the focus will be yet, but there’s an offseason for that. The Pirates will make some transactions this winter, but for years, the messaging has been that they will need to improve internally as well.
The team’s MVP feels the same way.
“That's what it takes,” Skenes said. “Just mentioned what are we willing to sacrifice, collectively, individually? Looking in the mirror is part of that. We need to do that. I think everybody in this room can be better. I believe that, going into the offseason, a lot of guys are going to see it that way.”