Front Row Seat: Skenes, Skubal win Cy Young Awards
The baseball hot stove is about to get going, too.
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Darren Smith
MLB
Tigers' Tarik Skubal, Pirates' Paul Skenes win Cy Young Awards - ESPN
Though Skenes averaged 98.2 mph with his fastball, his already legendary workout routines and deep arsenal of pitches have contributed to his success. He throws seven different pitches, with his sweeper (.150 average allowed) and his changeup (.103) nearly impossible to hit, but it's still the overpowering four-seam fastball that registered 104 of his strikeouts.
"It truly is a team effort with the coaches that we had and the players," Skenes told MLB Network. "It's pitchers making each other better, our catcher-pitching relationship, coaches, the organization putting you in good spots to succeed. I couldn't have done it by myself and I'm super grateful that I've had the infrastructure around me to succeed."
Paul Skenes, Cy Young winner, is just getting started — 'I haven't done anything in this game' - Yahoo Sports
The gargantuan hurler is the personification of calm confidence. There is not a timid bone in his body. Skenes radiates controlled aggression on the diamond and serenity outside the lines. He is what happens when God-given talent meets self-discipline and work ethic.
Those traits — and, of course, his canyon-deep arsenal of dastardly pitches — propelled Skenes to a sophomore season for the history books. Across 32 starts, the 23-year-old shouldered 187 2/3 innings with a 1.97 ERA that led all qualified starters. Skenes punched out 216 hitters (tied for second in the National League) while walking just 42. That 23.7 percent strikeout-to-walk ratio, per FanGraphs, topped the NL leaderboard by over 2 percentage points.
Padres say Fernando Tatis Jr. won’t be traded this offseason - San Diego Union-Tribune
A report early in the week became a talking point as the possibility mushroomed as it wound through the vast expanse of the World Wide Web and made its way to the General Manager Meetings at The Cosmopolitan hotel.
“We’re not trading Tatis,” one Padres source said emphatically on Wednesday.
Multiple team sources said over the past two days that the idea of moving their All-Star right fielder and one of the most popular players in the major leagues has not been discussed internally or with other teams this offseason.
Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette headline 13 MLB players tendered qualifying offer - The Athletic
A long thoracic nerve issue and a knee injury wiped out half of King’s platform season, likely costing him tens of millions of dollars in the process. Twelve months removed from a 2024 campaign in which he logged a 2.95 ERA and 201 strikeouts, he should still draw widespread interest. King is expected to decline the qualifying offer and head into free agency as one of the most intriguing pitchers available.
Japanese pitcher Tatsuya Imai to be posted by Seibu Lions - MLB.com
The Saitama Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball announced Monday that they will allow right-handed starter Tatsuya Imai to be posted this offseason for MLB teams. Once Imai’s posting window opens, teams will have 45 days to work out a contract with the 27-year-old.
Sources: Japanese HR king Murakami available to MLB teams - ESPN
Murakami, 25, owns the single-season home run record for a Japanese player in Nippon Professional Baseball, having hit 56 in 2022 to break Sadaharu Oh's record 55, which was set in 1964. A prolific power hitter, Murakami leaves the Tokyo Yakult Swallows with 246 home runs over his eight seasons in Japan.
Former Padres Outfielder, First-Round Pick Retires Immediately, Becomes MLB Coach - Sports Illustrated
Former Padres outfielder Travis Jankowski was among a slate of new hires announced to Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker's staff on Wednesday.
Jankowski will be the Rangers' first base coach, effectively ending his major league playing career after 11 seasons.
Jankowski, 34, was the 44th overall pick of the 2012 draft by the Padres out of SUNY-Stony Brook. He played five of his 11 major league seasons (2015-19) in a San Diego uniform.
