Paul David Skenes (born May 29, 2002) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

in the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

organization. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

Air Force Falcons The Air Force Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the United States Air Force Academy, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The athletics department has 17 men's and 10 women's NCAA-sanctioned teams. The current athl ...

and the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a ...

. Skenes was born and raised in

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

, where he attended

El Toro High School El Toro High School is a public high school in Lake Forest, California, United States. It is one of five high schools in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District (SVUSD) and serves Lake Forest and its district of Portola Hills and a small po ...

and played three seasons of varsity baseball. Skenes, born into a military family, enrolled in the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Uni ...

and played college baseball for the school. In his 2022 sophomore season, he won the

John Olerud Award The John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award (known colloquially as the John Olerud Award) is a college baseball award given to the best two-way player of the season. The award is named after former Washington State Cougars All-American pitch ...

, given annually to the best

two-way player In sports that require a player to play on offense and defense (such as basketball and ice hockey), a two-way player refers to a player who excels at both. In sports where a player typically specializes on offense or defense (like American footb ...

. Ahead of his junior season, Skenes departed from the Air Force Academy and transferred to LSU. In his lone season at LSU, Skenes posted a 1.69

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) and set a single-season school record for

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s with 209. He received

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

and national pitcher of the year honors as well as the

Dick Howser Trophy The Dick Howser Trophy is bestowed annually to the national college baseball player of the year. The award is named after former collegiate and Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager Dick Howser, who died of brain cancer in 1987 at the age ...

. Skenes was part of the LSU pitching staff during the team's 2023 Men's College World Series championship win and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Skenes entered the 2023 MLB draft as one of its most anticipated prospects and considered by some as the best pitching prospect since

Stephen Strasburg Stephen James Strasburg (; born July 20, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Strasburg was selected by Washington with the first overall pick in the 2009 Major League ...

. Skenes was selected first overall by the Pirates and signed to a $9.2 million bonus. Dylan Crews was selected next, making the pair the first college teammates to be drafted first and second overall.

Early life

Paul David Skenes was born on May 29, 2002, in

Fullerton, California Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617. Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Sa ...

, to Craig, a

pharmaceuticals A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and rel ...

company employee, and Karen, a

homemaker Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a hous ...

. Two of Skenes' uncles served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

while another served in the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

. Skenes grew up in

Lake Forest, California Lake Forest is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 85,858 at the 2020 census. Lake Forest incorporated as a city on December 20, 1991. Prior to incorporation, the community had been known as El Toro. Following a vote in 20 ...

, and attended

, the alma mater of major leaguers

Nolan Arenado Nolan James Arenado (; born April 16, 1991) is an American professional baseball third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Arenado is widely recognized as an elite third baseman, both offensively and defensively. ...

and

Matt Chapman Matthew James Chapman (born April 28, 1993) is an American professional baseball third baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Oakland Athletics. Chapman made his MLB debut with Oakland in ...

, among others. Skenes played three years of varsity baseball as a

– he played

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

, and

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

in addition to pitching. In September 2018, during his junior year, Skenes announced his commitment to attend the

and play

for the

. In his junior season, he posted a 0.67

(ERA). He was voted to the all-star teams for the

Coast View Athletic Association The Coast View Athletic Association is a high school athletic league that is part of the CIF Southern Section. It is an amalgamation of the Sea View League and the South Coast Leagues. Members *Aliso Niguel High School *Capistrano Valley High Scho ...

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

, the

CIF Southern Section The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF ...

, and the state of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. During his senior year, Skenes was named team captain and had a 0.33 ERA and hit three home runs before the remainder of the season was abruptly canceled in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. He was named to the all-county first team following the season. Skenes graduated from El Toro in 2020 with a

grade point average Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...

of 4.76.

College career

Skenes honored his commitment to play

for the

and accepted an appointment as part of the class of 2024. In his first season at Air Force, Skenes was named the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

Freshman of the Year and a first team All-American by the ''

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper ''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' (also known as ''Collegiate Baseball Magazine'' and ''Collegiate Baseball'') is an American publication based in Arizona that considers itself the "voice of amateur baseball" which has been published for over 40 ...

'', ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

'', and the NCBWA. In 2021, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Wareham Gatemen The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane Fi ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. In 2022, Skenes won the

as the nation's best two-way player. After his sophomore season, Skenes entered the NCAA transfer portal. On July 28, 2022, Skenes announced that he would transfer to

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

(LSU) to play for the

. On June 22, 2023, Skenes broke

Ben McDonald Larry Benard McDonald (born November 24, 1967) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. The first overall pick in the 1989 MLB Draft, McDonald played for the Baltimore Orioles and Milwaukee Brewers from 1989 through 1997. Baseball career Col ...

's SEC and LSU record for strikeouts in a single season, recording his 203rd strikeout of the year. Following the 2023 season, Skenes won the

National Pitcher of the Year Award The National Pitcher of the Year Award is a college baseball award given to the best pitcher of the college baseball season by the College Baseball Foundation. The current holder of the award is Cooper Hjerpe of the Oregon State Beavers. Winn ...

and the

. LSU won the

2023 College World Series 3 (three) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cu ...

and Skenes was named the

College World Series Most Outstanding Player The College World Series Most Outstanding Player is an award for the best individual performance during the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. The recipient of the award is announced at the completion of the College World Series Championship ...

Professional career

The

selected Skenes with the first overall selection of the 2023 Major League Baseball draft. He and Dylan Crews became the first college teammates in MLB draft history to be selected with the first two overall picks. Skenes was the second player in LSU history to be selected first overall in the draft, joining

. He signed with the Pirates on July 18, 2023, for a $9.2 million signing bonus, the highest ever for a drafted player. Skenes debuted on

MLB.com MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (a subsidiary of MLB). MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports column ...

's ''MLB Pipeline'' list as the third-ranked prospect league-wide and the top-ranked pitcher. On August 7, Skenes was assigned to the rookie-level

Florida Complex League Pirates The Florida Complex League Pirates are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Pirates. The team plays its h ...

with the expectation of limited innings due to his high usage at LSU the prior spring. He made his professional debut on August 10 and pitched a one-two-three inning against the FCL Twins; all but one of his pitches were clocked at or higher and he struck out fellow top draft pick Walker Jenkins. On August 15, Skenes was assigned to

Single-A Class A, also known as Single-A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A, Double-A (baseball), Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classif ...

affiliate

Bradenton Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698. History Late 18th and early 19th centuries A settlement established by Maroons or escaped sl ...

. He was then promoted to Double-A affiliate Altoona on August 21.

Personal life

In August 2023, Skenes gave an interview with Jason Mackey of the

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

where he discussed his romantic involvement with LSU gymnast and social media influencer

Olivia Dunne Olivia Paige "Livvy" Dunne (born October 1, 2002) is an American artistic gymnast and social media personality. A former USA national team member and a current member of the LSU Tigers women's gymnastics team, she is the highest-valued women's ...

. According to the interview, the two started dating because his best friend at LSU was dating Dunne’s roommate and regular

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

sidekick,

Elena Arenas Elena Arenas (born August 31, 2001) is an American artistic gymnast. She qualified to Junior International Elite in 2014 and competed during the 2014 and 2015 Elite seasons.https://usagym.org/pages/athletes/athleteListDetailPrint2.html?id=33826 ...

References

External links

Air Force Falcons bioLSU Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skenes, Paul 2002 births Living people Air Force Falcons baseball players All-American college baseball players Baseball catchers Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Fullerton, California Bradenton Marauders players College World Series Most Outstanding Player Award winners El Toro High School alumni Florida Complex League Pirates players LSU Tigers baseball players Wareham Gatemen players