Paul Skenes is doing something not seen since the “Dead Ball Era” of baseball history

The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the New York Yankees 9-4 on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

With just one day left in the regular season, the Pirates are now 76-85 on the year. The Yankees are 93-68 after the win.

With the win, Pirates super rookie Paul Skenes made his final start of the year. Because the team significantly limited his workload, he only managed 2.0 innings. However, it was scoreless innings in which he allowed no hits and struck out three.

Since taking over in May, Skenes has had incredible performances for Pittsburgh, reaching the All-Star Game and starting for the National League. He will be a serious contender for the National League Rookie of the Year award alongside Jackson Chourio (Brewers) and Jackson Merrill (Padres).

With his performance this year, he has also accomplished things that have not been seen since the “Dead Ball Era” of baseball history.

According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

Lowest ERA in a season as a rookie, min. 20 starts (since ER official in AL+NL in 1913):

1913 Reb Russell: 1.90
2024 Paul Skenes: 1.96
1914 Jeff Pfeffer: 1.97
1918 Scott Perry: 1.98

These are the only ones under 2.00… 3 pitchers from the dead ball era and him

Skenes finished his rookie season 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA. He struck out 170 batters in just 133.0 innings and looks every bit the ace heading into 2025.

The Pirates and Yankees end the regular season on Sunday afternoon with first pitch at 3:10 p.m. ET. At this point, all games will take place on the last matchday of the season.

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