Where Does Paul Skenes Rank Among MLB’s Top 50 Players?

When ESPN MLB experts ranked MLB’s top 100 players entering the 2025 season, Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes was placed fifth on the list.

Now, four months later, not much has changed, as the flamethrowing All-Star right-hander is ranked sixth on ESPN’s in-season list.

“Continuing the best start to a pitching career MLB has seen in a long time. Arguably ever,” insider Jeff Passan wrote. “Among qualified starters, he throws harder than everyone (98.4 mph average fastball), has the lowest ERA of anyone (1.94), a strikeout rate in the 87th percentile, walks hitters less frequently than three-quarters of his peers and is pretty damn great at everything. This is the most exciting start to a career since Shohei Ohtani.”

Skenes is ranked second among all National League players, trailing only Shohei Ohtani (second) and is the second-ranked pitcher (third if you count Ohtani). The Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar is No. 2 on the list and reigning AL Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal is No. 3.

“That Skenes is also doing this with the Pirates, receiving 2.9 runs per game, which ranks 118th out of 127 pitchers who have made at least 14 starts, according to Baseball-Reference — only reinforces his dominance when one run can be the difference between a win and a loss. His record is 6-8,” Passan wrote. “No starter has won the National League Cy Young with a record of .500 or below. Will Skenes become the first?”

Skenes is the only member of the Pirates to crack the top 50, while star outfielder Oneil Cruz was 59th on the preseason list.

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