Paul Skenes has accepted his role as the Pirates' 2025 opening day starter almost as nonchalantly as he accepted the National League Rookie of the Year award last season.

"I mean, this was a goal for sure, so cool thing to kinda put on the record, but it doesn't really mean anything if we don't go out there and win," Skenes said Saturday at LECOM Park after being informed by Derek Shelton he'll start March 27 against the Marlins in Miami. "So, I've got to go out there and pitch well."

He made clear his main goal.

"It's just baseball. That's what people need to understand, I think. It's just go out there and pitch, go out there and play because the game doesn't change. When it gets to a higher level, the big leagues are the big leagues for a reason, the best players are there. But, at the end of the day, I don't think a lot has changed, it's just been about going out there and pitching well."

Skenes' full media availability: 

After winning the National League Rookie of the Year award and finishing third in the Cy Young voting last season, Skenes has solidified himself as a certified ace.

"I think he deserves it, just from what he did last year, the way he’s performed and I think we have a really good rotation with some other guys who can do it," Shelton said. "Mitch Keller's done it in the past and has done a really good job. Just felt like Paul was the best choice."

Shelton's full media availability:

Skenes is the Pirates' 12th opening day starter since 2010 and will become the youngest anywhere to make an opening day start since José Fernández started the Marlins' opener in 2014. If Keller would've been named the opening day starter, he would've been the first Pirates pitcher to start three consecutive opening days since Francisco Liriano between 2014 and 2016.

A year ago at this time, Skenes was starting the spring breakout game at LECOM Park against the Orioles and put on a show. He threw one inning and struck out both Enrique Bradfield Jr. and Jackson Holiday, who were two of the Orioles' top prospects at the time.

Skenes quickly rose through the system and made seven starts at Class AAA Indianapolis, where he threw 27 1/3 innings while allowing just three earned runs and striking out 45 batters. He then took the league by storm.

In his first season, Skenes went 11-3 in 23 starts, recorded a 1.96 ERA over 133 innings and tallied 170 strikeouts. He also went on to start the MLB All-Star game for the National League and at one point received a standing ovation from a crowd in St. Louis. It was the type of rookie season that will go down in the history books. Through it all, Skenes was consistent. The moment was never too big, he never seemed star struck and each accomplishment seemed like another rung on the belt.

Shelton said Skenes' reaction to being named the opening day starter Friday was much of the same.

"He was like ‘OK, great, thanks. Here we go.’ " Shelton said. "I mean, very typical of Paul, very business-like."

With Skenes pegged as the opening day starter, that brings into question who will start the home opener at PNC Park on April 4. If the Pirates utilize a true five-man rotation, Skenes would be set to make his second start April 1 against the Rays in Tampa, Fla. That would leave Keller, Jared Jones, Bailey Falter or Andrew Heaney in a spot to start at home. However, if they stay true to that rotation and don't hold Skenes for the home opener, he wouldn't pitch at all against the Yankees during that opening weekend.

I asked Shelton this morning if he has an idea of how the rotation might play out leading into the season and he said that will be determined closer to the end of spring training.

"As we get into probably the last five or six days, we’ll have a better idea of that, of where we’re at," Shelton said. "It’s going to be nice to get Bailey back on the mound early in the week and then kinda go from there, but we really haven’t decided the order yet."

Here's how Shelton delivered the news: