Pittsburgh Pirates sensation Paul Skenes celebrated with girlfriend Livvy Dunne after capturing his first National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday night.
After just two years in Major League Baseball, Skenes, who has dated TikTok star and former gymnast Dunne since 2023, has become the first pitcher to win Rookie of the Year in one season and then a Cy Young Award the next since Dwight Gooden did it with the New York Mets 40 years ago.
The 23-year-old was selected by Pittsburgh with the first overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, before putting up a superb ERA of 1.96 after 23 starts in his rookie season the following year.
In the previous campaign he recorded a 1.97 ERA after becoming the team’s starting pitcher, making him the MLB’s first starter to earn a sub-2.00 ERA since 2022, as well as 216 strikeouts in 187.2 innings.
He is yet to make it into the postseason with the Pirates, however, after they finished bottom of the National League Central two seasons on the bounce with a miserable overall record of 147-177.
Skenes was surrounded by Dunne and his friends and family for the Cy Young announcement, with the group seen celebrating at someone’s home Tuesday night.
Livvy Dunne was seen congratulating Paul Skenes after he scooped a prestigious award
Skenes has won the Cy Young prize after also being named Rookie of the Year in 2024
After hugging his girlfriend, the Pirates pitcher turned and embraced his mom after making baseball history.
As well as becoming the first pitcher to follow a Rookie of the Year victory with the Cy Young Award, Skenes is also the first to win it unanimously since Sandy Alcantara in 2022.
An overjoyed Dunne shared a graphic announcing her man’s award win on her Instagram story and wrote: ‘OH MY GOODNESSSSS!!!!’
The ex-LSU gymnast also shared photos of a celebratory cake and Skenes holding up two bottles of champagne at a party in aid of his historic success.
Even with his brilliance, Skenes needed a little late help from Pittsburgh’s woeful offense to avoid becoming the first Cy Young-winning starting pitcher to finish with a losing record. He won three of his final four decisions to finish 10-10.
Gooden is the only other pitcher to win Rookie of the Year and a Cy Young Award in consecutive seasons, doing it in the NL for the New York Mets in 1984 and 1985. Los Angeles Dodgers great Fernando Valenzuela swept both NL awards in 1981.
Vern Law in 1960 and Doug Drabek in 1990 are the only other Pirates to win the Cy Young Award since it was introduced in 1956.
Skenes was picked atop all 30 ballots by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Philadelphia left-hander Cristopher Sánchez received every second-place vote, and World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers finished third.
Sánchez´s 2029 option price increased by $1million to $15million and his 2030 option price by $1million to $16million as a result of being a Cy Young Award finalist.
Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal won his second straight American League Cy Young Award earlier Wednesday, joining elite company after another spectacular season in which the left-hander helped propel Detroit to a playoff berth.
