The Cy Young award is always historic, but the AL and NL both handed out awards for things not really ever seen before. Paul Skenes won the award in just his second season in the big leagues, and Tarik Skubal won his second Cy Young in a row. The two pitchers had unfathomably good years, and they were awarded with some hardware for it.

AL, NL Cy Young awards given to deserving superstars

First things first: Here is the official ballot for each league.

• American League

  • Tarik Skubal – 198 points
  • Garrett Crochet – 132 points
  • Hunter Brown – 80 points
  • Max Fried – 61 points
  • Bryan Woo – 26 points
  • Carlos Rodon – 5 points
  • Aroldis Chapman – 4 points
  • Jacob deGrom – 2 points
  • Trevor Rogers – 1 point
  • Drew Rassmussen – 1 point

• National League

  • Paul Skenes – 210 points
  • Cristopher Sanchez – 120 points
  • Yoshinobu Yamamoto – 72 points
  • Logan Webb – 47 points
  • Freddy Peralta – 44 points
  • Nick Pivetta – 7 points
  • Jesus Luzardo – 5 points
  • Andrew Abbott – 4 points
  • Zack Wheeler – 1 point

Paul Skenes won the NL Cy Young with all 30 first-place votes. Christopher Sanchez landed second by getting every single second-place vote. In the American League, Tarik Skubal got 26 first-place votes, while Garrett Crochet got the other four.

With his award, Skubal is the first pitcher to win back-to-back Cy Young awards since Jacob deGrom, who ironically got votes in 2025, in 2018 and 2019 for the New York Mets. Skubal is also the first AL pitcher to do this since Pedro Martinez in 1999 and 2000 for the Boston Red Sox.

Only five players in baseball history have taken home the Cy Young award in their second MLB season: Fernando Valenzuela (1981), Bret Saberhagen (1984), Dwight Gooden (1985), and Tim Lincecum (2008). Skenes is now on the list after dominating to the tune of a 1.97 ERA.

Somewhat interestingly, both these players started the All-Star Game for their respective leagues, marking the second time in baseball history that the ASG starters have gone on to win the Cy Young awards. The All-Star Game happens midway through the MLB season, and awards races can change (for example, Juan Soto is an MVP finalist and did not even make the game). But both Skubal and Skenes had dominant first and second halves.

These two players took very different paths to this point. Skubal has been in the league for a few years now, but he first broke out last year en route to the Cy Young. He was never seen as this level of pitcher at almost any level of competition.

“It doesn’t matter where you come from,” Skubal said via ESPN. “I had one offer out of high school , and it’s not a Power 5 school by any means but look at me now. So, I think that’s the beauty of the game of baseball. It doesn’t matter if you’re good at 12 or good at 24 or 25. There’s a ton of stuff to happen and just take your career day by day.”

On the other hand, Skenes is a generational prospect. He was the best pitcher in college by a fair margin, and he was the easy choice for the first overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. He made his debut less than a year later, won Rookie of the Year, and then followed it up with the Cy Young. Few pitchers have ever had such a run of success, showcasing that all the hype about Skenes was accurate. Skubal’s journey was much more winding, but he and Skenes are now obviously the two best pitchers on the planet. It will be difficult to see anyone dethroning them in 2026, especially Skenes, but Crochet, Fried, Brown, Wheeler, Yamamoto, and others could give them a run for their money.