The last Rookie of the Year and Cy Young winners in Pirates history

Paul Skenes was recently named a finalist for both the National League Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award. Skenes is coming off an historically great freshman season where he had a 1.96 ERA (214 ERA+), 0.95 WHIP, and 2.45 FIP.

The Pirates hurler is the first rookie since Denny Driscoll in 1882 with an ERA+ above 210 in their first season. For reference of how long ago that was, Driscoll was already 10 years old when President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in Ford's Theatre and made his baseball debut just 81 years after George Washington had died.

Skenes has all but claimed the Rookie of the Year, though Cy Young will likely be a more uphill battle, given that he only pitched 133 innings and is competing with Chris Sale, who just won a pitching triple crown. Either way, it’s been a while since the Pirates have had someone win either award. The last time a Pirate won Rookie of the Year was Jason Bay in 2004.

Most Recent Pittsburgh Pirates Rookie of the Year, Cy Young Winners

During that season, Bay hit .282/.358/.550 with a .382 wOBA and 130 wRC+ throughout 472 plate appearances. Bay went yard 26 times, which was the most of any rookie in ‘04, surpassing the American League Rookie of the Year winner, Oakland Athletics infielder Bobby Crosby. Bay struck out at a 27.3% rate but also drew walks 8.7% of the time. Bay’s defense was about average, with zero defensive runs saved.

Bay won Rookie of the Year over (ironically) San Diego Padres’ top rookie Khalil Greene. After that impressive rookie showing, Bay would go on to participate in three All-Star games (two with the Bucs, one with the Boston Red Sox) and appear in 11 MLB seasons before retiring after the 2013 season, last playing with the Seattle Mariners. Since then, Pirates freshmen Jung Ho Kang (2015) and Josh Bell (2017) have finished third place or better in Rookie of the Year voting. Once Skenes wins Rookie of the Year this season, he will be just the second Pirate to take home this honor.

Meanwhile, the last Pirate to win a Cy Young was Doug Drabek in 1990. Drabek pitched 231.1 innings for the Pirates, working to a 2.76 ERA (131 ERA+), 3.28 FIP, and 1.06 WHIP. Drabek’s 14.3% strikeout rate was below average for the year, but his 6.1% walk rate was the 15th best in baseball. His 0.58 HR/9 rate was also above average. His 22-6 record, which represented the most wins in baseball, likely swayed voters' opinions at the time.

Drabek won the award over Ramon Martinez of the LA Dodgers, who had a 2.92 ERA (126 ERA+), 3.03 FIP, and 1.10 WHIP across 234.1 innings pitched. Prior to Drabek taking the award home in 1990, Vern Law was the last Pirate to win Cy Young; he won in 1960. Skenes is the first pitcher to finish third place or better in Cy Young voting since Drabek in ‘90, and the highest a Pirates pitcher has made it since was Gerrit Cole in 2015, who finished in fourth place. Drabek also finished fifth place in CYA voting just two years later in 1992.

It’s been quite some time since the Pirates have had a player finish in the top three for either award, and only one MLB star in any uniform has been able to capture both awards in the same season, that being the late Fernando Valenzuela after his outstanding 1981 campaign. Here’s to hoping that Skenes not only captures Rookie of the Year, but takes home even more hardware and wins Cy Young.