July was Paul Skenes’ month. Not only did the Pittsburgh Pirates’ ace start the MLB All-Star Game for the second year in a row, but he also won his first career NL Pitcher of the Month award.
Skenes was lights-out in July, yielding just two runs in 27 innings last month (0.67 ERA). Four of his five outings were scoreless, helping him earn his first victory since May 28 and back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
The 23-year-old righty was in true midseason form, especially in the control department. He racked up 36 strikeouts while allowing only three walks and one home run, resulting in a 1.70 FIP. He also threw 65.5% of his pitches for strikes, but did hit four batters.
The only runs Skenes allowed all month came on one mistake pitch — a two-run homer by Minnesota Twins DH Trevor Larnach on July 11. Opponents batted a paltry .212/.264/.313 against him.
Despite his impressive performance, the two-time All-Star only went 2-1 with two no-decisions during the month. Part of the reason was limited run support, as the Pirates scored just two runs in his first three outings of the month combined. He also completed more than five innings only twice, as Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly focused on limiting his workload to help preserve his arm.
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While Skenes won NL Rookie Pitcher of the Month last September, this is his first NL Pitcher of the Month award. He becomes the eighth Pirates pitcher to win the award and the first since Gerrit Cole’s lone NL Pitcher of the Month award in April 2015 (he’s won the award five times since moving to the American League).
Texas Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi won AL Pitcher of the Month for July after going 5-0 with a 0.59 ERA in five starts.
Coming off his magnificent July, Skenes got off to a bit of a rough start on Saturday in Colorado, giving up four runs in five innings against the Rockies. However, the NL Cy Young frontrunner still leads MLB in ERA at 2.02.
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Featured image via Jeff Curry/Imagn Images