PITTSBURGH — This time last year, discussions about Paul Skenes centered around whether the former No. 1 overall pick would start the season in Triple-A or the big leagues.

Much has changed in the time between then and the second day of PiratesFest on Sunday at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Skenes turned in a marvelous season in 2024 and started the All-Star Game en route to being named National League Rookie of the Year. The 22-year-old then made the rounds after the Pirates’ season concluded, appearing on ESPN’s “College GameDay” as a celebrity guest picker while also visiting Air Force bases. He even signed a copy of the classic Russian novel “Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoevsky on a plane flight.

Amid it all, Skenes was able to get away from the spotlight, if only for a little while.

“The nice thing about the offseason is people kind of forget you because it’s not baseball season,” Skenes said. “It never completely goes away. That’s just how it is. It’s the new normal.”

Just 23 starts into his MLB career, Skenes is unquestionably as critical to the Pirates’ success in 2025 as anybody. He also could have as influential a voice as anybody in the Pirates’ clubhouse.

After a second straight 76-win season for the Pirates, Skenes said there have been some internal discussions about adjusting the inner workings of the team’s clubhouse for the better. The flame-throwing righty didn’t go into great detail about what’s expected to be different in the clubhouse or what could change on his end, but Skenes recognizes that after as prosperous a rookie season as any player in Pirates history, his opinions matter and that he’ll have to trust his gut and pick his spots.

“I don't know what the character of that will be, but I'll have probably a little more say-so,” Skenes said. “... I'm not going to overstep, but winning is winning. We've got to do what we've got to do to make it happen."

One aspect of the Pirates that, on paper, is already poised for a strong season is the starting rotation.

Unlike last offseason, when Ben Cherington signed a couple veterans in Martin Perez and Marco Gonzales to supplement the Pirates’ rotation, their general manager has taken the inverse approach and dealt from an area of strength. It’s why right-hander Luis Ortiz is now with the Cleveland Guardians following a breakout season and why Spencer Horwitz was acquired in the hopes of remedying the Pirates’ first-base woes.

Skenes, who expects to operate on some kind of innings limit but receive a more sizable workload, will headline the Pirates’ rotation. Upstart Jared Jones is also back for his second big-league campaign. Mitch Keller is locked up long-term, left-hander Bailey Falter has proven he can be an MLB caliber starter, and right-hander Johan Oviedo, who was superb at eating innings in 2023, is slated to return after missing all of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery.

Not to mention, top pitching prospect Bubba Chandler isn’t too far away from debuting and adding to a rotation that Skenes believes has ample potential.

“We have the talent and stuff to do it. We just have to pass the line,” Skenes said. “I think that was something that we did really well at times last year. When we showed up, when it was my day to pitch, Bailey would go seven — I was like, ‘All right, it’s my turn to go seven.’

“Kind of passing the line like that, it makes it fun as a rotation to do that, to put the team in a position to win on five consecutive days. I think that’s going to be the mindset this year.”

The Pirates will need their starters, which were 15th in MLB in ERA (3.95) last year, to replicate — and preferably build upon — last year’s results should the club hope to break a postseason drought of nearly a decade. Their offense, after all, was 24th in runs scored a year ago, which led to the dismissal of former hitting coach Andy Haines and the hiring of Matt Hague.

While much uncertainty remains about the Pirates’ offense and key spots in the field — namely right field — the inverse applies to the rotation, barring injuries. Skenes is excited for the competition that will take place in spring training for the final couple of spots in the Pirates’ rotation, which the hurler hopes will raise the bar for the group at large.

Whether a rotation led by Skenes will be enough to propel the Pirates into contention is uncertain, especially considering there’s a ways to go until a clearer picture for the club’s 26-man roster emerges. But what’s obvious to Skenes after a year in the majors is there were at least 10 games the Pirates let slip away last season.

Finding a way to win the bulk of those contests in 2025 would be as impactful a development as any player the Pirates can be reasonably expected to acquire the rest of the offseason.

“You look at teams like the Dodgers, the Tigers, the Guardians, the Yankees, the Brewers — teams like that that were in the playoffs and we were watching from home because we pissed those games away,” Skenes said. “We’re going to have our opportunities to win, so we have to take advantage of it.”

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