Paul Skenes won his first National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday night and, as opposed to the last time he won an MLB award, he was appropriately excited.
Last year, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ ace became a meme when he appeared to barely celebrate winning Rookie of the Year despite his girlfriend, Livvy Dunne, being very excited.
This year, the vibe was much different as Skenes, Dunne, and his family were all thrilled as the news was delivered.
Paul Skenes winning Rookie of the Year: 😐
— MLB (@MLB) November 13, 2025
Paul Skenes winning Cy Young: 🙂 https://t.co/Vw8ANXAoEs pic.twitter.com/hAymCO5Qxs
Skenes earned all 30 first-place votes, becoming the 13th National League pitcher to win the award unanimously. It has happened 16 times, with Sandy Koufax being the unanimous winner three times (1963, ‘65, ’66), and Greg Maddux doing it twice (1994, ’95).
The 23-year-old Skenes was incredible in 2025. In 32 starts, he went 10–10 with a 1.97 ERA, a 0.95 WHIP, and 216 strikeouts against 42 walks in 187 2/3 innings. He led MLB in FIP (2.36), and xERA (2.59) and was second among all MLB pitchers in fWAR (6.5), finishing a hair behind AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal (6.6).
The Pirates made Skenes the No. 1 pick in the 2023 MLB draft, and he debuted with the big league club on May 11, 2024. As a rookie, he went 11–3, with a 1.96 ERA, a 0.95 WHIP, and 170 strikeouts against 32 walks in 133 innings. Had he made more starts as a rookie, he likely would have won the Cy Young last year.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Paul Skenes, Livvy Dunne Were Appropriately Excited About Cy Young Award Win.
