Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes has been voted the National League Rookie of the Year for 2024, the Baseball Writers Association of America announced. Outfielder Jackson Merrill of the Padres finished second while outfielder Jackson Chourio of the Brewers finished third. The Pirates will not earn a PPI bonus pick from this result but Skenes will earn himself a full year of service time despite his late call-up.
Skenes, now 22, has made a quick rise to being one of the top pitchers in the sport. As of a year and a half ago, he was still pitching for Louisiana State University. The Pirates selected him with the first overall pick in the 2023 draft, with many viewing him as about as close to MLB-ready as a draft pick could be.
The Bucs let him get his feet wet as a professional, putting him into five minor league games late in 2023, but never letting him throw more than two innings in any of those. There was some speculation that he could crack the Opening Day roster in 2024 but the Pirates decided to build him up slowly. He was started in Triple-A but with his outings mostly kept around three or four innings.
Despite the kid gloves, Skenes proved it was time to break free, posting a 0.99 earned run average in those minor league outings. That got him promoted to the majors in May, less than a year after being drafted.
His relatively young age and lack of professional experience were easily overwhelmed by his incredible talent. Flashing a triple-digit fastball, a devastating “splinker” and several other pitches in his arsenal, Skenes went on to toss 133 innings over 23 big league starts. In that time, he had a 1.96 ERA, 33.1% strikeout rate, 6.2% walk rate and 51.3% ground ball rate. He produced 4.3 wins above replacement in the eyes of FanGraphs, placing him tenth among all pitchers in the majors this year, despite tossing fewer innings than everyone ahead of him.
The timing of his call-up and this victory are both noteworthy. The collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players features measures designed to encourage top prospects being promoted, the prospect promotion incentive, and also to disincentivize service time manipulation. If a player is on certain top 100 prospect lists and is promoted early enough in the season to earn a full service year, that player can earn his club a bonus draft pick depending on awards voting. On the flip side, if such a player is not promoted early enough to get a full year but managed to finish top two in Rookie of the Year voting regardless, that player earns himself a full year of service retroactively.
Had Skenes been promoted earlier in the year, this award would have netted the Bucs an extra draft pick. But since he was held down into May, they were not eligible to receive that pick. Skenes, on the other hand, will now have a full year of service time. That is significant for him as he is now slated to reach free agency after the 2029 season, his age-27 campaign. Under previous collective bargaining agreements, his free agency would have been one year further into the future.
Merrill was eligible to net the Padres a PPI bonus pick and likely would have done so in any other year. He just had the misfortune of competing against Skenes in the voting. Per the BBWAA, each of the 30 votes had Skenes and Merrill in the top two, 23 of them putting Skenes first and seven of them going for Merrill.
The fact that it was even close indicates how impressive Merrill was this year. A shortstop prospect with no Triple-A experience, Merrill moved to center field just this year to help the Padres fill a vacancy at that spot and hit the ground running. He got into 156 games for the Friars, hitting 24 home runs, stealing 16 bases, slashing .292/.326/.500 and getting strong grades for his glovework.
There was a case that Merrill deserved the award more than Skenes since his performance was over a full season, and clearly a handful of voters did lean that way, but ultimately not enough to get Merrill over the line. Despite the incredibly impressive performance, he comes up just shy of getting the trophy while the Padres come up just shy of getting a bonus draft pick.
The third place votes were split between just two players, as Chourio got 26 of them and Shota Imanaga of the Cubs got the other four. Chourio hit 21 home runs and stole 22 bases, slashing .275/.327/.464 while providing solid outfield defense. Imanaga tossed 173 1/3 innings over 29 starts for the Cubs with a 2.91 ERA. In many other years, those two players could have won the award, but they were instead relegated to nabbing a few third-place votes due to the stunning seasons of Skenes and Merrill. Players like Masyn Winn and Joey Ortiz also had excellent seasons but couldn’t even get any votes due to how strong the competition was in the National League this year.
well deserved. skenes dominated beyond words
if he threw a few more innings, he mighta won CY too
the jacksons will have very good careers ahead of them as well. excellent rookie class
Yeah, this was absolutely one of the best rookie classes the NL has ever seen. 1968 was pretty great as well with Bench and Koosman, and 2015 had Bryant and Thor, but Skenes and Chourio could be generational players. Merrill looks like a regular All-Star, too..
All things being equal, the most hyped guy usually wins these writer’s awards
This is an absolute embarrassment for the writers. The players gave it to Merrill and if the writers knew that would have done the same.
Great rookie class. Not arguing against this pick. Surprised the Inmate picked up the award in the AL though.
Pirates down to 5 years of Skenes and Pads getting no pick for Merrill…
PPI should be adjusted a bit imo.. T2 RoY should be worth getting that pick.
Nobody should get picks because they have really good rookies.
It means they have good player development instead of relying on FA to build their team. If PPI pick can give teams incentives to improve their player development, then PPI is well deserved and will be good for baseball
You realize big market teams win the rookie of the year more than small market teams. Player development is usually who spends the most in the minors or just really lucky getting a phenom in the draft.
You are wrong. Check the list of Rookie of the Year winners in recent years., beginning with the 2020s. If you lie on a board like this, be prepared for someone to correct you with the facts.
mlb.com/awards/rookie-of-the-year
MR. Q: The Pirates didn’t exactly develop Skenes. He came to them pretty much as the finished product.
Agreed. The teams with the best rookies already picked early or in some cases have Competitive Balance Picks.
Don’t worry you’ll still have a chance to buy him in 5 years. Geez.
I thought Merrill only had to place inside the top 3 for the Padres to get a pick?
Wrong bub
Only RoY gets the pick
Guess I’m gonna have to read up on the matter.
“The Jackson Boys get Run Over by Paul- The Machine -Skenes”
@Fernando: Looking into it a little bit, he would need to place in the top 3 for MVP prior to arbitration starting. Here’s a nice article:
baseballamerica.com/stories/prospect-promotion-inc…
It’s for the rookie of the year and anyone finishing in top 3 for MVP or Cy Young before they are arbitration eligible.
I believe it is top three for MVP or Cy Young. Witt Jr already earned one for this year for being a finalist.
if any of these players, skenes or the jacksons, Places top three for Cy Young/mvp before arbitration do the teams receive picks in that case?
Merrill would. Chourio won’t as he signed MLB deal before debut. Not sure if Skenes qualifies for Cy Young for same reason he didn’t for ROY.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem with Skenes being named. But there should at least be position player ROTY and Pitchers ROTY. Both ROTY’s being pitchers just seems wrong somehow.
@uncle
theres way too many awards as it is…
gold glove, silver slugger, comeback player, ROY, MOY, cy young, MVP, All-MLB First Team, Second Team, the hank aaron award, the roberto clemente award, reliever of the year, executive of the year, Outstanding DH Award
and most of these will end up in some rich ahole’s living room after buying it in an auction some day…
John, You’re not wrong. I also have a problem with them giving away Draft Picks as compensation because most of the good rookies are already a prize for sucking the big one. Why do they get rewarded twice? I mean Merrill played almost every game and did it at a new position and gets hosed. Doesn’t make much sense.
@uncle
merrill’s gonna enjoy a great career, all star appearances, MVP, maybe a WS. and 1 day he’ll cash in big on it all, so dont feel too sorry for him haha
It should be the highest in ROY voting among players/teams that qualified for the PPI pick. Skenes and the Pirates didn’t qualify because he was not called up early enough in the season.
I adore that the Pirates get nothing from this.
Except having the best pitcher on the planet.
LOL, Easy there buddy. He’s played in exactly 23 games….
@99 Please tell, what is the magic number he needs to pitch before we can acknowledge what the eyes see, and the stat sheet says?
I think what he’s saying, can he do this consistently, do this for a period of time, not for a partial season. MLB is all about adjusting, players will adjust and then what adjustments will Paul make
@olereb I agree in principle with your take, but in rare cases, the player is just too damn good. Unless he gets injured, or his mechanics get screwed up and he loses the ability to command the strike zone, his arsenal of pitches will assure domination no matter what hitters do to adjust.
It will be more about if he can actually stay healthy, which is rare for guys who throw his velo and spin.
The best pitcher on the planet is 12 years old and lives in my house, he just hasn’t pitched enough games yet to qualify
Mmm 50 games? 300 innings? You need more than a year to know where a career is gonna go.
23-7. You were right, Scott. A complementary hat tip to you sir! I thought it might be a little closer, but cheers to Skenes and, by proxy, yourself.
LOTS more. Say maybe 10 more seasons worth.
Here is the list of the best rookie seasons ever.
fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&st…
How many of them are even in the conversation for best pitcher on the planet over their careers?
Lets expand that to ones that only pitched 130 innings in their rookie season.
Skenes is down there in 29th with Alex Ogando and Britt Burns. How many on that greatly expanded list made the conversation for best pitcher on the planet in their careers?
Which would be even moreso the case if he hadn’t been granted a full year of service time.
Let’s see Skenes pitch as many innings as Wheeler to reach that conclusion. Not saying he can’t, just that he has yet to do it.
Except a couple prospects in couple years to restart there new rebuild
In Nutting’s ideal world, Skenes would have been brought up late June instead of mid-May and earned an honorable mention for ROY instead of winning it.
But Skenes absolutely dominated the minors and forced Nutting’s hand into bringing him up a little early. It was Strasburg 2.0 in those minor league stadiums.
Let’s correct that. Wasted his time in the minors.
Stupid statement!
National writers are so predictable.
Shouldn’t they be?
We are at the point where we could replace most of them with Chap GPT and nobody would notice.
The writers got it right.
@James Midway
The click bait will literally start writing itself.
It was the right choice
PPI is stupid.
I PP
OPP
You know me.
Pads and Pirates both get screwed by PPI. Noice
1 year for skenes he will be a dodger sooner give him year pirates will trade him where he needs to go.
Change sports you don’t have a clue!
BS
Can anyone please explain why the Buccos are not getting a PPI pick? are any of the NL teams getting one?
Maybe an MLBTR explainer?
If Skenes was up OD Pirates would get the pick.. He came up in May.
PPI is trying to incentivize teams to call up their rookies earlier… and risking losing service time..
Pirates losing a prime year of Skenes with no comp is a very expensive loss..
danke
Because the cheap owner didn’t let him start in majors. Has to be up full year.
Congrats to Skenes. Hope the Pirates’ guy and “my” team’s guy Merrrill tear it up in their careers.
Skenes is to Pitching what candy is to Halloween. Haven’t seen anyone dominate this early in their career since Valenzuela? Gooden?
Scott, you old enough to remember Vida Blue when he broke in? He was amazing.
Remember when pitchers tossed 250-300 innings and still had a 2.00 ERA.
Strasburg
I’ll take 200
Well so much for the incentive for teams to call guys up early
Padres did so literally started a dude in a new position day one and never looked back get nothing
Pirates don’t and get screwed out of a year of service time
Doubt teams will continue to call guys up when something like this happens
What’s the point if you get nothing. We will be back to manipulating service time soon.
I think they’ll do something to make it more of an incentive for the team in the next CBA.. like make it top 3 RoY finish or something
Good will with players.
The Pads have also never taken a player to arbitration under AJ Preller.
I’d rather my team do right by the players, even if the league offers no tangible rewards for doing so.
I somehow doubt this is going to make Skenes any likilier to stay with the Pirates
The rules are nonsense thats for sure. But do the Padres really need a reward on top of the performance they got out of Merrill? And do the Pirates really need an extra pick because Skenes is so good?
It’s all messed up.
Do the Cardinals need a competitive balance pick?
Not sure what the Cardinals have to do with anything. They don’t get a pick so….
Not a fan of the every day player not winning the award over a SP that was only around for 2/3 of the year – meaning 1 out of 5 days for 2/3 of season he was available to do his thing.
Agreed.
It has to be thought of in terms of PAs, not games. Position players only get 4-5 PAs a game. An SP, even though he only plays every 5th day, might get 25-30 PAs in that one game.
tms will be alot more cautious with their usage of top prospects. if they had held skenes back a few starts he mighta lost to merrill thus securing that 7th yr of control. they let him throw 133innings, won ROY, thus losing that 7th yr of control. tms will learn from this so they dont follow the same pattern
I think it would have been fine if they just got the darn draft pick. But losing the year of control and not getting the pick is quite stupid and not in the spirit of the rule.
i agree, pirates should still receive the pick if their player wins ROY regardless of when they were called up. there’s alotta ridiculous mlb rules currently
Not surprising at all and well deserved but i feel like maybe MLB should have a ROY award for position players and for Pitchers like the NFL has offensive and defensive ROY awards
That’s how it should be.
Maybe it’s his girlfriend that won him though the award. It’s kind of like the best new artist award in the Grammys. The Cars didn’t win and the band that beat them were around for one whole album.
Just another reason to detach from MLB. When the best don’t win personal awards, it’s a big effing downer.
“Just another reason to detach from MLB.”
I doubt if Jackson even thinks this!
Just like Vanessa Hudgens almost got it for Cole Tucker.
Crikes: It’s tough for Merrill. But hopefully players – especially those early in their careers – aren’t playing for individual awards. Merrill was awesome this season and helped his team get to the NLCS. That has to mean more than winning RoY.
I feel bad for Pirates fans. It’ll be a sad day for them when they trade Paul Skenes in 3-4 years and then Jared Jones as well. Maybe Mitch Keller too.
I’m surprised Jackson Merrill didn’t win the NL ROTY
The Bucs extended Brian Reynolds, so not all hope is lost. But if they end up trading Skenes, they need to do it when he has 2 years left. They’d get a bundle back.
Congratulations to Skenes on a well deserved honor. It’s a tough class to break in with when Winn can’t make the top three with 4.9 WAR. I’m not complaining; just saying this is a great class of rookies.
Yeah Winn had a really good year but I wouldn’t take him over Skenes. Merrill flip a coin.
I think they got the finalists right. Voters really dig the offense more than defense. This award was always Skenes’ in my opinion.
To your point CardsFan57, it was a great class of rookies
Yes, an outstanding rookie class is good for the game. As baseball fans, we should all be happy about that.
Merrill sure picked the wrong year to debut. Most any other year no doubt, but this year was loaded on the NL.
Anyone else confused by this wording: “placing him tenth among all pitchers in the majors this year, despite tossing fewer innings than everyone ahead of him.” We would expect that outcome (to finish behind those who tossed more innings) so “despite” Is not the word for this context?
If he finishes ahead of 9 guys despite throwing fewer innings, then the context makes sense. Are we on the same page here?
Jackson Merrill should have won this. He played a full season in center field and Skenes only played about 2/3 of a season. Skenes is great, but doesn’t deserve this over Merrill.
Teams aren’t going to make the mistake of promoting a kid too early. If you’re not a contender, they will wait until July. That said, it is hard to anticipate Skenes being this good.
While I think this is total BS, it will save the Padres tens of millions of dollars over the next 5 seasons.
Skenes won’t be a Pirate by then.
Congrats to Skenes! Merrill is also deserving but there can only be one.
This is just the second time in MLB history that both Rookie of the Year winners were starting pitchers. The other time was in 1981’s short season when Fernando Valenzuela and Dave Righetti were the winners.
Wish he pitched for the Tigers.
Skenes looks like everything a young Dwight Gooden once was, Could be even better. Hopefully, he’ll wear the Orange and Blue (e.g. Mets sportswear) some day soon