Paul Skenes takes another step toward Cy Young award with latest outing for Pirates

Sunday marked Paul Skenes’ 50th start in the Major Leagues, and it was one of his best. The Pittsburgh Pirates' young ace struck out seven while allowing just three hits over seven scoreless innings before exiting to a standing ovation from the home crowd at PNC Park as the Pirates beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-0.

With Sunday's outing, Skenes lowered his career ERA to 2.02. Since the start of the Live Ball Era in 1920, the only pitcher to have a lower ERA over his first 50 starts is Vida Blue, who pitched to a 2.01 ERA with the Oakland Athletics from 1969-1972.

Blue won a Cy Young award in 1971, and Skenes appears poised to follow in his footsteps this year.

Paul Skenes takes another step toward Cy Young award with latest outing for Pirates

Despite an 8-9 record – we should all know the inherent flaws in the pitcher wins statistic by now – Skenes has an MLB-best 2.07 ERA this season. He also ranks among the best in the Majors with an 0.94 WHIP (tied for third), .195 batting average against and 161 innings pitched (third), 181 strikeouts and 17 quality starts (tied for fourth) this season.

Skenes would be the third Cy Young winner in Pirates history, joining Vern Law in 1960 and Doug Drabek in 1990. He would also join Dwight Gooden as the only other National League pitcher to follow Rookie of the Year honors by winning a Cy Young in his second season.

There really isn't any question as to whether Skenes should win the Cy Young – especially now that his primary competition, Zack Wheeler, requires season-ending surgery and has essentially been removed from consideration. Wheeler (10-5) leads the NL with 195 strikeouts, is tied with Skenes with a 0.94 WHIP and has a .197 batting average against in 24 starts this season.

The question, then, is whether the Pirates' front office will ever wake up and realize that they are squandering the type of talent that only comes around once in a generation (if that). The only thing that could hamper Skenes’ Cy Young candidacy is the fact that Pittsburgh (57-75) is 25 games out of first place in the NL Central Division. Skenes' performance down the stretch, no matter how impressive, will have no impact on playoff positioning.

Skenes should win the NL Cy Young anyway, just one year after winning Rookie of the Year honors. The Pirates, though, will continue dwelling at the bottom of the standings until the front office makes a serious effort to build a competitive roster around him.

More Pirates content from Rum Bunter