Simply the best? That’s apparently not the case for Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes. The right-hander dropped in MLB.com’s latest starting pitcher power rankings, jeopardizing his Cy Young Award chances.
“Despite the significant hype that has accompanied Skenes since his college days at LSU, the right-hander has been so historically good early in his Major League career that it’s still possible that we’re underrating him,” MLB.com’s Andrew Simon wrote Wednesday.
“With that said, the world-beating Brewers are not impressed. They’ve tagged him for four earned runs over four innings in two straight matchups (June 25 and Tuesday). Skenes’ ERA is 5.79 in three starts against the Brewers and 1.75 in 22 starts against every other opponent,” Simon added.
Despite Tuesday’s flop against the Brewers, Skenes continues to lead the majors with a 2.13 ERA.
The interesting part about the latest rankings is the National League pitcher who finished ahead of Skenes. It wasn’t Philadelphia ace Zack Wheeler. Instead it was Phillies teammate Cristopher Sanchez.
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The left-hander is 11-4 with a 2.45 ERA in 24 starts this season. He leads all National League pitchers with a 5.9 WAR and 17 quality starts, moving him up from No. 4 to No. 2 in the starting pitcher power rankings.
Wheeler leads the NL with 189 strikeouts but tumbled from No. 5 to No. 10 in the rankings. Both San Diego Padres right-hander Nick Pivetta (No. 6) and Chicago Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd (No. 8) leapfrogged past Wheeler in the NL.
As for Skenes, he will return to the mound Monday when the Pirates open a three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays at PNC Park.
He’s trying to become the first Pirates pitcher to win the Cy Young Award since Doug Drabek in 1990.
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