The Pittsburgh Pirates are wrapping up another disappointing season in 2024.
With a record of 74 wins and 85 losses, the Pirates are dead last in the National League Central and 14 games back of a wild-card spot.
One bright spot of this Pirates season includes rookie phenom Paul Skenes.
According to Joe Block on ‘X,’ MLB analyst Jayson Stark of The Athletic points out a mind-blowing stat about Skenes in 2024.
From @jaysonst in @TheAthleticMLB: pic.twitter.com/ZdKv17pm8U
— Joe Block (@joe_block) September 27, 2024
ERA+ is also known as adjusted earned run average and accounts for external factors such as what ballparks a pitcher pitches at and the different level of opponents.
A score of 100 is league average for ERA+, and Skenes has a score of 211.
This score is over 100% better than the league average and has not been done by a rookie starting pitcher since 1882.
Through 22 starts, Skenes has a record of 11 wins and 3 losses with a 1.99 earned run average and 167 strikeouts in 131.0 innings pitched.
His impressive rookie season was enough to earn him the start for the National League in the All-Star game.
Although the Pirates haven’t made the playoffs since 2015, they appear to have struck gold with Skenes.
Another striking statistic is that the Pirates have never won the National League Central since joining the division in 1994.
Their last division title came when they played in the National League East and was all the way back in 1992.
The Pirates will look to build around Skenes in 2025 and challenge the Milwaukee Brewers for the National League Central as they have won the division 3 of the last 4 seasons.
NEXT: Stats Show How Impressive Paul Skenes Has Been In First 22 Starts