MLB Odds 2024: Pirates' Paul Skenes Nearly Even with Jackson Merrill to Be NL ROY

Even though Paul Skenes has been the most-talked about rookie in MLB this season, the Pittsburgh Pirates ace is in a race with Jackson Merrill of the San Diego Padres for the NL Rookie of the Year award.

Per the updated odds from DraftKings, Skenes is a minus-120 favorite for the award (bet $120 to win $100) over Merrill at minus-110.

Skenes has been everything the Pirates could have hoped for when they made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB draft. He owns a 2.30 ERA with 121 strikeouts and 71 hits allowed in 98 innings over 16 starts since being called up on May 11.

Merrill wasn't specifically added to the Padres' opening-day roster to replace Juan Soto after he was traded to the New York Yankees, but they did need a centerfielder because Trent Grisham was included in that deal.

The 21-year-old has been fantastic with a .289/.320/.484 slash line with 17 homers and 13 stolen bases in 122 games so far. He also ranks in the 93rd percentile with six outs above average at a premium defensive position.

Another thing that helps Merrill's argument is he's doing all of this in the midst of a pennant race. The Padres (72-55) are currently the top wild card team in the NL and are only three games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.

The Pirates looked like they might be a surprise playoff team, but a recent 10-game losing streak and 12 losses in their last 15 games overall has dropped them eight back in the wild-card race.

It's through no fault of Skenes that the Pirates have struggled recently. Their 10-game losing skid began with his Aug. 4 start against the Arizona Diamondbacks when he allowed two runs in 5.1 innings. He left with a 4-1 lead that was gone because the bullpen allowed four runs over the final 3.2 innings.

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported on Monday that the Pirates "currently" have no plans to shut down Skenes with their season on the brink, nor do they have a set innings limit on him, but they could look to shorten his outings in games he does start to manage his workload.

Skenes has already thrown 125.1 innings between the majors and minors this season. He threw a total of 129.1 innings last year between LSU and the minors.

If the Pirates hold back the number of innings Skenes pitches over the final five weeks of the regular season and Merrill continues to play a key role for a team in playoff contention, the NL Rookie of the Year odds could shift in favor of the Padres star.