Pirates' Paul Skenes must face six challengers for Cy Young award in exciting race

Pirates' Paul Skenes must face six challengers for Cy Young award in exciting race originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have been a fun team so far in 2026, as they've gotten a lot more from their offense than in year's past, and they have a real shot to make the postseason.

But the headliner once again is Paul Skenes. After a disastrous Opening Day game, Skenes has turned things around and looks like a Cy Young candidate once more.

However, as USA Today's Bob Nightengale highlighted, the Pirates ace won't have an easy path to the Cy Young this year.

"The greatest race of the year may be for the National League Cy Young," Nightengale writes. The reason? Nightengale called out six pitchers other than Skenes who have a realistic chance for the award.

Those pitchers are Cristopher Sanchez, Jacob Misiorowski, Shohei Ohtani, Chase Burns, Chris Sale, and Mason Miller. All six have a real shot at the Cy Young, and should make for a very exciting race this year for the award.

Paul Skenes has 6 competitors for NL Cy Young

Skenes has a 1.98 ERA this season in nine starts and 50 innings pitched with 56 strikeouts, which is very impressive considering where he began the year, failing to get out of the first inning against the New York Mets.

His top competition for the NL Cy Young award won't make life easy for Skenes. Mason Miller has a 0.86 ERA with 14 saves and 44 strikeouts. But because Miller is a closer, his odds for the NL Cy Young are the worst of this group.

Chase Burns has a 1.87 ERA with a 5-1 record and 55 strikeouts in nine starts and 53 innings pitched. Jacob Misiorowski has a 2.12 ERA with 80 strikeouts in nine starts and 51 innings pitched.

Ohtani's 0.82 ERA in seven starts with 50 strikeouts in 44 innings pitched is also incredible, though he might miss the award due to a lower inning count.

MORE: Three ways Pirates' Paul Skenes could lose NL Cy Young Award

Chris Sale has a 1.96 ERA with a 6-3 record and 64 strikeouts in nine starts this season. He's gone 55 innings deep so far and is one of the top contenders with Skenes for the award.

But, Philadelphia Phillies ace Cristopher Sanchez might have the best chance at beating Skenes. He has a 1.82 ERA with 80 strikeouts in 10 starts this season with 64.1 innings pitched, and just had a complete game shutout against the Pirates.

All six of these pitchers have a chance to usurp Skenes as the best pitcher in the NL, but Sanchez and Sale might have the best chance to do so of this group.