Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Posted on March 19th, 2026)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) The Pittsburgh Pirates named 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes as their starting pitcher when they begin their 2026 season playing against the New York Mets at Citi Field in Queens, New York on Thursday. Skenes was the National League’s starter for the 2024 and 2025 MLB All-Star Games and became the first pitcher to start consecutive MLB All-Star Games since Max Scherzer when he played for the Washington Nationals and Chris Sale when he played for the Boston Red Sox in 2017 and 2018. Skenes was also the Opening Day starter for the Pirates last year against the Miami Marlins when the teams played at loanDepot Park in Miami on March 27th, 2025. The Pirates lost 5-4 even though Skenes pitched 5 1/3 innings while only giving up two runs and earning seven strikeouts.