North Shore Nine

Paul Skenes isn’t just the face of the Pittsburgh Pirates — he’s the best pitcher on the planet, and now officially the 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner. The twenty-three-year-old becomes the first pitcher since Dwight Gooden to win Rookie of the Year and then immediately follow it with a Cy Young, cementing himself as one of the most dominant talents baseball has seen in decades. But on the latest Sicko Sound Off the conversation wasn’t just about awards — it was about what comes next for the Pirates.

Skenes’ post-award comments quickly became the moment of the night. After weeks of national speculation about whether he wanted to play in New York, Skenes shut the noise down — directly, calmly, and in a way that made Pittsburgh collectively exhale. He made it clear: his goal is to win in Pittsburgh, with Pittsburgh, and for Pittsburgh. Pirates fans haven’t heard that kind of conviction from a superstar in a long time.

From there, Doug and the callers dove into everything surrounding the franchise: the offseason “financial flexibility” Ben Cherington keeps mentioning, what to do with Mitch Keller, whether the Pirates will finally add real bats, and why this window matters more than ever. Skenes is a generational talent — the type a small-market team can build an entire era around — but only if the organization finally takes the leap.

Sickos had plenty to say on all of it… and there’s a lot more coming this offseason.