Paul Skenes Says Pittsburgh Deserves Better, 'We Owe It To The City'
The Pittsburgh Pirates lucked into drafting Paul Skenes, who immediately became the best pitcher in baseball after making his debut in 2024.
Skenes won the Rookie of the Year award in the National League with a tremendous 1.96 ERA, 170 strikeouts in 133 innings against just 32 walks, and just a .197 batting average against. Had he been in the big leagues early enough to make more starts, he'd have had a strong case to win the Cy Young Award in the NL too.
A young, dominant, front-line starting pitcher under team control at rock-bottom prices for years to come is as good as it gets for a modern baseball team. And the Pirates have several other exciting young players on the roster or soon to come, including Jared Jones, Oneil Cruz, and Bubba Chandler.
In a recent interview with MLB.com, Skenes said he believes that he and the rest of the young core "owe something" to Pittsburgh, to create a new golden era for the Pirates after years of waiting.
"I think we owe something to the city," Skenes said. "We owe a lot to the city. It’s our job to go out and win for the city because this is bigger than all of us. There’s a reason why Cutch keeps coming back, and specifically to Pittsburgh. There’s something about this city. We saw it last summer. We’ve seen it in the videos of the Wild Card Game. I’m tired of watching them because it was a Wild Card Series. The bar needs to be set pretty high. Not taking anything from those guys. The fact that that’s a golden era of recent Pirates baseball, that needs to change. We owe it to the city."
CHICAGO - Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates throws a pitch during the second inning of a game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on September 3, 2024. (Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)
Paul Skenes Might Have To Create Golden Age Himself
Skenes also said that the "golden era" team left a legacy in Pittsburgh that he wants to duplicate or exceed.
"We’ve got a legacy here," Skenes said. "Got to keep it going. They left the jersey in a better spot than they found it. That’s what I’m trying to do, and what we’re all trying to do."
There's just one problem: ownership doesn't actually care about building the Pirates into a successful on-field organization.
The Pirates currently have just three players signed to guaranteed contracts for the 2026 season: Mitch Keller, Bryan Reynolds and Ke'Bryan Hayes. Almost everyone else, Andrew Heaney, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, McCutchen, Tommy Pham and so on, are on one-year deals. And those players aren't exactly going to challenge the Dodgers, Mets or Phillies for star power and production.
Owner Bob Nutter has not signed a free agent to a multi-year contract since pitcher Ivan Nova in 2016. Literally has not signed a multi-year deal for a free agent player in almost a decade. This is not an organization serious about winning baseball games.
Skenes is an incredible talent, one who's already garnering comparisons to some of the best pitchers in baseball history. He could spearhead a new golden era of baseball in Pittsburgh, similar to how Padres ownership built a diehard fanbase thanks to signing players around Fernando Tatis Jr.
They just don't have the ownership to do it. The Pirates are raking in huge sums of revenue-sharing money. And choosing not to use it. Hard to create a "golden era" when you're doing that.