As Paul Skenes continually conjured magical starts this summer, Pittsburgh Pirates catchers Henry Davis and Joey Bart lowered their voices to a whisper when they talked about the Cy Young Award. Skenes was the preseason favorite to win the award, having finished third in his abbreviated rookie season, but never spoke of it. His catchers followed suit.

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“Never mentioned it around him,” Davis said.

The whispers ceased and celebration ensued Wednesday night when the 23-year-old Skenes won his first National League Cy Young Award, earning all 30 first-place votes for a unanimous win. Skenes is the second pitcher in MLB history, along with Dwight Gooden, to win Rookie of the Year and Cy Young in consecutive seasons, and the first pitcher since 1917 with a sub-2 ERA through the first 55 starts of his career.

Skenes led the majors in ERA (1.97) and the NL in WHIP (0.948) this season, striking out 216 over 187 2/3 innings. He is the Pirates’ third Cy Young winner, joining Vern Law in 1960 and Doug Drabek in 1990.

Skenes’ ascent to ace-dom is unquestioned. He is the greatest right-hander in the game. His starts are must-see TV. To understand how Skenes reached the peak of the profession, The Athletic spoke this week with nine of his current and former catchers, covering every level from youth ball to the big leagues. Tracing Skenes’ pitching evolution takes 14 steps and begins with his first catcher: his dad, Craig.

1. Paul was 4 when he started firing foam balls off the living room wall in his family’s home in Lake Forest, Calif. Little Paul, never that little, made his love for baseball known to all around him. He was always watching Los Angeles Angels games, always throwing something, always asking to play.

After work or on weekends, Craig would take his son to the elementary school a short walk away from their home. Sometimes Skenes’ mother, Karen, came along to shag batting practice. But most of the time, it was Skenes learning the basics of a game of catch, tossing a ball with his dad.

“You treasure every moment at that age,” Craig said. “It’s always great playing catch with your kid.”

2. Once he joined a local youth league and overcame the fear of being in front of a pitched ball, Skenes took to the catching position.