Paul Skenes, the reigning Cy Young Award winner in the National League, has pitched well enough to win the award again.
The Pittsburgh Pirates' ace has a 2.86 ERA, 107 strikeouts, and 18 walks over 88 innings.
What happened?
The Pirates have lost seven straight of Skenes' starts, making it difficult for him to win the award.
Jacob Misiorowski received 29 first-place votes and 153 total vote points, far surpassing Skenes.
Why it matters for Paul Skenes
Skenes needs to be perfect every time out to win, but he didn't help himself in two starts in May.
He allowed nine earned runs in 10.0 innings against the Philadelphia Phillies and the Toronto Blue Jays.
What comes next?
With another half of the season still to go, Skenes does have a chance to win, but he may need a miracle.
The looming work stoppage due to the CBA negotiations may cause games to be missed in 2027.
Skenes may have to wait until 2028 to win another Cy Young Award.
He has kept himself in contention with his performance this season.
Thomas Harrigan, from MLB.com, wrote that Skenes' performance this season feels like a step back.
But it's only because he set such an insanely high bar over his first two years in the Majors.
Skenes has an ERA of 2.86, while Misiorowski has an ERA of 1.45, leading Major League Baseball.
Cristopher Sanchez holds the second-best spot in the National League with an ERA of 1.80.
The Pirates are not helping their ace win the award, with seven straight losses in Skenes' starts.
Skenes tallied 55 total vote points, finishing in third place.
He may need to look to 2027 or 2028 to reclaim his Cy Young Award.
The right-hander has pitched well, but not well enough to win the award this season.