100 Years Later: Paul Skenes, Dutch Leonard and the Vanishing Art of the 2.00 ERA

In a sport obsessed with launch angles, exit velocity, and the almighty long ball, posting a 2.00 ERA feels like sorcery. But here comes Paul Skenes, the Pirates’ flamethrower, carving up lineups with military-grade precision—and doing something no pitcher has done in over a century.

At just 22 years old, Skenes now owns the lowest career ERA by any pitcher in MLB history before turning 23—with the lone exception of a pitcher from baseball’s black-and-white past: Dutch Leonard.

Let’s rewind. The year was 1914. Leonard—real name Hubert Benjamin Leonard—was a 22-year-old left-hander for the Boston Red Sox, whose pitching was so stingy it made landlords look generous. That season, he posted a jaw-dropping 0.96 ERA over 224.2 innings. That’s not a typo. His career ERA after two seasons? A blistering 1.80.

Leonard finished his 11-year career with a 2.76 ERA, pitching for the Red Sox and Tigers, winning a World Series in 1915, and even earning a cameo in the infamous Black Sox scandal (he claimed to possess letters proving the fix). Dutch’s legacy? A mix of brilliance and mystery—forever enshrined in ERA lore.

Fast-forward 110 years, and Skenes, with his triple-digit fastball and bulldog mentality, is redefining dominance for a new generation. ERA may no longer be the buzzy stat, but when it hovers around 2.00? You pay attention.

Why is this so rare? Simple. Modern hitters are better, bullpens are deeper, and starters rarely see the lineup three times. Maintaining a low ERA across meaningful innings in today’s MLB isn’t just rare—it’s nearly extinct.

But Skenes is making the impossible look routine. He’s not just matching Leonard’s ghostly numbers—he’s reviving an era where elite pitching meant something deeply poetic.

One hundred years later, a new phenom is writing his name into history. And Dutch Leonard? Somewhere, he’s probably smiling—because baseball always finds a way to rhyme.