Former Air Force Academy baseball player Paul Skenes has been named the 2025 National League Cy Young Award winner. The announcement was made by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Wednesday night. This recognition makes Skenes the first Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher to receive the award in 35 years.
Skenes finished the 2025 Major League Baseball season with a 10-10 win-loss record for the Pirates. Despite this, he led all starting pitchers in the league with a 1.96 earned run average (ERA) and set a franchise single-season record by striking out 216 batters over 187.2 innings.
In 2024, Skenes received the National League Rookie of the Year award after being selected as the number one overall pick by Pittsburgh in the 2023 draft. He became only the second Pirate ever to earn Rookie of the Year honors following his debut season.
Skenes played for Air Force during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, serving as team captain in his final year and earning Team MVP awards both years. In 2022, he was named Mountain West Co-Pitcher of the Year after achieving a conference-best ERA and helping lead Air Force to its first Mountain West Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance since 1969.
During his time at Air Force, Skenes was recognized as one of their most effective two-way players. On the mound, he accumulated significant strikeouts and wins while maintaining a strong ERA over his career. At bat, he posted high averages and power numbers including doubles and home runs.
His achievements brought him national attention with three All-America selections, along with winning awards such as John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year in 2022 and Mountain West Freshman of the Year in 2021. Skenes also received academic honors twice during his college career.
