Paul Skenes winning the 2025 NL Cy Young Award — joining Vern Law (1960) and Doug Drabek (1990) as the only Pittsburgh Pirates in history to take home that hardware — was a predictable outcome, and it should be no surprise that he is again the favorite in 2026.
The 23-year-old is already the best pitcher in the sport, running a 1.96 ERA and 10.8 fWAR over the first two seasons of his career. He's durable, unflappable in the face of pressure, and strikes out nearly one-third of the opposing hitters he faces. A contract extension is about the only thing missing from his profile.