Paul Skenes is not thinking about the National League Cy Young speech he'll likely be asked to make the week before Thanksgiving. The Pittsburgh Pirates ace isn't thinking about the elite company he has kept through his first two big league seasons, either.

Skenes, 23, doesn't pitch to win awards, but games. And neither Skenes -- though largely through no fault of his own -- nor his team has done enough of that to avoid another last-place finish in the NL Central.

So, no matter how much Skenes believes he has grown professionally during his first full season in the majors -- and he's a near lock to become the first player in four decades to win the Rookie of the Year one year and the Cy Young the next -- he's more concerned about how the Pirates respond over the winter.