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Pirates' Paul Skenes on track to make MLB history not seen since 1917 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have what might be the best pitcher in Major League Baseball right now in Paul Skenes, being as dominant as ever.
Despite his disastrous five-run Opening Day outing that didn't even get through one full inning against the New York Mets, his ERA is already down to 1.98.
Heading into a Sunday matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies, Skenes' 1.98 ERA on the year has him on track for some MLB history that, as USA Today's Bob Nightengale highlighted, hasn't happened in well over 100 years.
Paul Skenes is on track for MLB history not seen since 1917
"Paul Skenes, who has a 1.98 ERA, could become the first pitcher since Grover Cleveland Alexander in 1915-1917 to post three consecutive sub-2.00 ERA seasons," Nightengale writes.
Grover Cleveland Alexander was one of the best pitchers in Major League history. He is a Hall of Famer, three-time Triple-Crown winner, won the ERA title five times, and has 119.9 bWAR with 373 wins and a 2.56 ERA.
In 1915, he posted a 1.22 ERA in 49 games (42 starts), followed by a 1.55 ERA in 48 games (45 starts) in 1916, and a 1.83 ERA in 45 games (44 starts) in 1917.
MORE: Three ways Pirates' Paul Skenes could lose NL Cy Young Award
He also had a 1.73 ERA in three starts in 1918, a 1.72 ERA in 30 games (27 starts) in 1919, and a 1.91 ERA in 46 games (40 starts) in 1920.
It was a ridiculous stretch for Alexander, and while Skenes won't come close to those totals due to the game being so different with fewer starts, he is still on track to tie this record of three-straight seasons of sub-2.00 ERA baseball.
He posted a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts his rookie year, followed by a 1.97 ERA in 32 starts in his Cy Young year-two, and through nine starts in 2026, he has a 1.98 ERA.
If he can keep up this pace for the rest of the regular season, he would be the first pitcher in well over 100 years to have three straight sub-2.00 ERA seasons in MLB history.
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