Paul Skenes' season is over.
That's how it works when the Pittsburgh Pirates don't sniff the playoffs. We know exactly when Skenes' final outing will be. And it was Wednesday night.
And of course, Skenes was brilliant. He went six innings, allowed four hits and struck out seven.
In the process, Skenes locked up a piece of MLB history that has never been done before, according to Stats Perform's Greg Harvey.
Skenes is the first pitcher ever to have back-to-back seasons in which his ERA was below 2.00, he struck out at least 10.0 batters per nine innings and he threw at least 100 innings.
And oh yeah, Skenes did it in his first two seasons.
MORE: The Guardians have captured Cleveland's hearts again
To be clear, this record is about two seasons at any point in a pitcher's career.
Skenes just opted to do it immediately.
There have been a number of special young players to arrive in the big leagues in recent years. A lot of them have lived up to the hype.
Maybe no one has lived up to the hype more than Skenes.
The only reason he isn't even more widely regarded for his absolute brilliance is the team he plays on.
If the Pirates were winning, Skenes would be doing his thing in massively important games.
Instead, he has to ply his craft on a team that spends most of the days without him losing (and even way more losses on the days he starts than should make sense, too).
There's no telling how Skenes follows up this brilliant start to his career. But right now, there's no one like him.
More MLB news:
- Cal Raleigh just tied Babe Ruth
- Nationals' former slugger announces retirement at 29
- Shohei Ohtani does another thing only Babe Ruth has done before
- 3 reasons that Rafael Devers trade to Giants can still work out
- Edmundo Sosa had the home run game of his life for the Phillies
- 5 reasons to remember the historic 2001 Mariners