Starting pitchers won both Rookie of the Year trophies to kick off Awards Week in Major League Baseball.

Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Luis Gil of the New York Yankees took the honors.

PAUL SKENES
The Pittsburgh Pirates could not have made a better choice to start the 2023 MLB Draft than Paul Skenes.

The 22-year-old California native posted an 11-3 record with an ERA of 1.96. Skenes pitched 130 innings and struck out 170 batters.

Not only was that good enough to win Rookie of the Year, but Skenes is in contention for the Cy Young Award on Nov. 20.

Skenes became the fifth player to be picked first in the MLB draft and go on to become Rookie of the Year. The others were as follows:

·      Bob Horner, 1978 Atlanta Braves

·      Darryl Strawberry, 1983 New York Mets

·      Bryce Harper, 2012 Washington Nationals

·      Carlos Correa, 2015 Houston Astros

Other contenders for this year’s award were Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio and Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill.

LUIS GIL

Gil, a 26-year-old from the Dominican Republic, won the American League award in a very close race.

He earned 106 points, while Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser had 101. Yankees catcher Austin Wells took third place with 17 points.

Gil won 15 games for the Yankees as they racked up 98 wins and rolled to the American League pennant. He posted a 3.50 ERA and struck out 171 batters.

Opposing hitters only mustered a .189 batting average against him.

Gil also served as a valuable replacement for Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, who was injured during the first half of the season.

In the month of May, Gil went 6-0 with a 0.70 ERA.

Next, MLB will announce the Manager of the Year awards on Nov. 19.