It didn’t feel like Pittsburgh Pirates 2024 Rookie of the Year winner Paul Skenes could follow up his first Major League season with something even better. After all, it was an historic campaign. Skenes put up a 211 ERA+ in 23 outings. For reference, ERA+ is a league and park-adjusted statistic where 100 is always the league average, 101 is 1% better than average, 99 is 1% worse than average, and so on. It was the first time since 1882 that a pitcher had an ERA+ of 210 or better in 20+ starts. But Skenes hasn’t just done similarly well in his now-finalized sophomore campaign; he’s gotten better in most conceivable metrics.
Numbers prove Paul Skenes' Pirates encore was an all-time historic second season
