Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal aren’t just the 2025 Cy Young winners; they’re the future of baseball

In looking at the winners of the 2025 Cy Young Awards — Tarik Skubal of the Tigers and Paul Skenes of the Pirates — you can’t help but wander into the future. The foundation is in place for these two aces to be all-time greats. 

This comes right at the time when the greatest pitchers from the previous generation are on their last legs. Clayton Kershaw has retired, Justin Verlander is 42 years old and Max Scherzer is 41. 

The list of pitchers in MLB history with at least three Cy Youngs isn’t long, but all three of those guys are on it, along with Roger Clemens (who won seven), Randy Johnson (five), Greg Maddux (four), Steve Carlton (four), Jim Palmer, Tom Seaver, Sandy Koufax and Pedro Martinez.

Skubal this season just became the first pitcher on the American League side to win back-to-back Cy Youngs since Martinez.

It’s a bit of a changing of the guard, right? Skubal and Skenes are the present and the future of elite-tier aces. The chances of them joining Verlander, Scherzer and Kershaw with three Cy Youngs seem pretty decent. 

Skubal will be 29 years old next season. Since his return from flexor tendon surgery on his elbow in 2023, he’s gone 38-13 with a 2.39 ERA (175 ERA+), 0.90 WHIP and 571 strikeouts against only 82 walks in 467 ⅔ innings. There isn’t really much reason to believe he’s going to slow down within the next few years. He hasn’t been run into the ground with excessive workload, he’s a big, strong guy and his stuff is electric. 

Sure, there is tough competition in Garrett Crochet, but — assuming the Tigers either keep Skubal or trade him to an AL team — as things stand right now, Skubal is the favorite to win the Cy Young again next year and probably the year after that. 

It’s fair to say Skubal is the best pitcher on the planet right now.

If we were betting on which pitcher will win the most Cy Youngs moving forward, however, Skenes has to be the play. 

Skenes doesn’t turn 24 years old until next May. He posted a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts as a rookie. He took the ball 32 times this year and worked 187 ⅔ innings, pitching to a 1.97 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 216 strikeouts against 42 walks. He’s bigger and stronger than Skubal, arguably with better stuff. It’s probably thrown around too much in sports, but that old cliché that the sky is the limit? Yeah, that’s easily the case here. 

Paul Skenes wins 2025 National League Cy Young award: Pirates ace takes home honors in just second MLB season

Dayn Perry

Do you know how many pitchers already had two sub-2.00 ERA seasons under their belt — with at least 130 innings pitched — before they turned 25 in modern (1901-present) MLB history? Only five. One of them, Walter Johnson, did it four times and is one of the greatest statistical pitchers in history. There are three others from the Deadball Era in Ed Reulbach, Ernie Shore and Smoky Joe Wood. And then there’s Paul Skenes. And he has another year to spare! He could do it for a third time next year. 

Take note, again, that we’re having to go all the way back to the Deadball Era. ERA+ is a stat that adjusts for era and ballpark conditions. Through age 24, among starting pitchers with at least 200 innings, here’s the best ever in ERA+: 

1. Skenes, 215 (meaning he’s 115% better than average at keeping runs off the board)
2. Bill Foster, 193
3. Reulbach, 174
4. Jeff Tesreau, 173
5. Dave Brown, 169

Walter Johnson’s ERA+ was 165. Roger Clemens through age 24 had a 3.08 ERA and 141 ERA+ along with his two Cy Youngs and and MVP. Dwight Gooden through age 24 had a 2.64 ERA and 132 ERA+. Kershaw had a 2.79 ERA and 138 ERA+. 

In terms of run prevention on a rate basis, Skenes doesn’t just have an excellent foundation. He arguably has the best we’ve ever seen. 

Skubal in the last two years has a 2.30 ERA and 180 ERA+. He’s obviously a bit older than Skenes and is a bit behind on racking up counting stats if we’re talking about the Hall of Fame or something, but he’s provided himself with a long runaway here. He’ll look to win his third straight Cy Young next year. The only pitchers to ever win three straight Cy Youngs are Maddux and Randy Johnson, both of whom did it four times in a row. 

Skubal is good enough to pull that off. And Skenes is good enough to finish his career with more Cy Youngs than Skubal. The winners of the 2025 Cy Youngs have set themselves up for a run of greatness.