The personal trophy collections of Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal are expanding rapidly.
The next chapter in the careers of baseball’s top two pitchers is all about achieving victories — ideally with their current teams.
On Wednesday night, 23-year-old Skenes celebrated his meteoric rise by winning the National League Cy Young Award, which he received as a unanimous decision from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. This accolade arrived just minutes after Skubal secured the prestigious American League pitching honor for the second consecutive year as the standout pitcher for the Detroit Tigers.
While both pitchers are thrilled with the accolades, they expressed a strong desire for their teams to join in the celebration by 2026.
However, the situation is complicated.
Uncertain futures with current teams
Skubal, now 28, is entering the final year of his contract, and although he hopes to remain in Detroit after next season, he is acutely aware that the Tigers might consider trading him as a business strategy, especially given the significant salary increase he would likely demand if he became a free agent.
Skenes finds himself in a similar position; while he is under team control for the remainder of the decade, he had to clarify a report suggesting he had already indicated to teammates his desire to move on.
“I have no idea where that came from,” Skenes commented. “My aim is to win and to win here in Pittsburgh.”
In 2025, the Pirates finished last in the NL Central, trailing the leading Milwaukee team by a significant margin. As the first player since Dwight Gooden with the New York Mets in the mid-1980s to achieve both Rookie of the Year and a Cy Young Award in consecutive seasons, Skenes remains hopeful that Pittsburgh is closer to becoming competitive than many believe.
“From the perspective of fans outside of Pittsburgh, it seems like we’re not expected to win,” Skenes noted. “There are 29 fan bases that anticipate our losses. I want to be among the 26 players who change that narrative.”
Pirates’ ace shines in his first full season
Skenes, who was selected first overall by the Pirates in the 2023 amateur draft following an impressive tenure at Air Force and LSU, made a significant impact in 2025. He led the majors with an ERA of 1.97, striking out 216 batters across 187 1/3 innings during his inaugural full season in the major leagues.
Despite his exceptional performance, Skenes required some late support from Pittsburgh’s struggling offense to avoid being the first Cy Young-winning starter to end with a losing record. He managed to secure three wins in his last four decisions, concluding the season with a 10-10 record.
That less-than-stellar win-loss record did not prevent the towering 6-foot-6 right-hander from dominating all 30 ballots. Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sanchez received every second-place vote, while World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers took third place.
Sanchez’s option price for 2029 increased by $1 million to $15 million and by another $1 million to $16 million for 2030 as a result of his status as a Cy Young Award finalist.
In the American League, Skubal garnered 26 first-place votes from a different BBWAA panel, with the remaining four going to runner-up Garrett Crochet of the Boston Red Sox. Hunter Brown of the Houston Astros finished in third place.
Both Skenes and Skubal participated in this year’s All-Star Game. The only other instance where two All-Star Game starters were awarded Cy Youngs in the same season was in 2001 when Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens achieved this milestone.
The MVP awards for both leagues are set to be announced on Thursday.
Dodgers’ two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani is heavily favored to win the NL MVP for the fourth time overall, including twice in the AL.
New York Yankees powerhouse Aaron Judge is in pursuit of his third AL MVP, facing tough competition from another leading contender, Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh.