How putting down his bat helped Paul Skenes become Pirates' No. 1 overall pick

Paul Skenes already was college baseball’s best two-way player when he made what he calls the hardest decision of his life, leaving the U.S. Air Force Academy to transfer to SEC powerhouse LSU.

Skenes concentrated on pitching, and the 6-foot-6½, 260-pound right-hander delivered one of the most dominant seasons in college baseball history in leading LSU to its seventh College World Series title.

Still, Skenes said he was shocked to be selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates with the first overall pick of the MLB Draft on Sunday night, bypassing his LSU teammate, outfielder Dylan Crews, for the honors.

“Just absolutely ecstatic to get the news,” Skenes said, “because a year ago, this was never even a thought in my mind.”

The moment Paul was picked No. 1 ????@Paul_Skenes | #ThePowerhouse pic.twitter.com/pbfEIzLdoZ

— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) July 9, 2023

Despite becoming the first player to win a national championship, be chosen as the most outstanding player in the College World Series and be the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft, Skenes doesn’t know what his draft value would have been if he hadn’t put down his bat and catcher’s mitt. After a sophomore season when he batted .314/.412/.634 with 10 doubles, 13 home runs and 38 RBIs and went 10-3 with a 2.73 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 15 starts at Air Force, Skenes won the John Olerud Award as the nation’s top two-way performer.

After transferring to LSU, Skenes still planned to hit this season but quickly prioritized staying healthy so he could serve as the Tigers’ Friday night starter.

“If I were a two-way player, I know my body would not feel as good as it did throughout the year. Two-waying kind of gets in the way of player development because you’re splitting your time and energy and focus,” Skenes said. “What you’re seeing at the big-league level with Shohei Ohtani is it’s very possible to be elite both ways, but I think it does take a lot of time, energy and effort to do so. Just how my body works, having long limbs, having so much rotation in my hips, it was very taxing on my body to do both, especially right-handed.”

The year-round focus on pitching allowed Skenes to reach a new level this season, when he went 12-2 with a 1.69 ERA and 0.75 WHIP, 209 strikeouts and 20 walks in 122⅔ innings over 19 starts. He averaged an eye-popping 15.3 strikeouts per nine innings and fanned 21 batters in two starts to win the CWS most outstanding player honors.

A transformational player and a transformational person. pic.twitter.com/fJQpWnoKTb

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 10, 2023

Where Skenes had high velocity on his fastball — which has touched 103 mph — and a changeup he has used since high school, he increased his hand speed and arm action to add a sweeping slider and a curveball as breaking pitches to his arsenal.

“There’s already three breaking balls there, and — all three of them — we project to be very good pitches at the professional level,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said. “I just think he’s going to continue to learn. He’s going to continue to figure out what he needs to do against the best hitters in the world to be successful. He’s already been incredibly successful against the best college teams and players, and now the next level will be figuring out who the best professional hitters are and what he has to do against them.

“So it’s a very strong starting point with a guy who is capable of doing other things down the road.”

Paul Skenes, 101mph Fastball (home plate view).

Don't Blink. ???? pic.twitter.com/1KQMsoV2y3

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 22, 2023

Skenes considers himself naturally curious, especially after growing up in a family environment where he was encouraged to ask questions and seek answers at a young age with frequent trips to museums. That trait transferred to his passion for baseball, where LSU used Edgertronic cameras and Trackman devices to produce reports so he could study the results from every inning he pitched.

“Baseball is an obsession for me, to an extent,” Skenes said. “I want to get better at everything I can, no matter how much time and effort. I’ll go down a rabbit hole. Sometimes, it might be wrong, but if it can help me get better, I’ll do it. A lot of the stuff I do in terms of research and learning, I’m doing it on my own. I’m really excited to see what the organization has in professional baseball in terms of resources and research and data and all that that can help me get better and help the people around me get better as well to help us win.”

That will start with preparing to pitch once every five days instead of once every seven and building his body to endure a 30-start season. The differences between college and pro baseball is why Skenes hesitates to say whether he believes he’s ready to pitch in the majors.

“I know stuff-wise, I can look at models, and I can look at other peoples’ stuff. In a vacuum, people are telling me my stuff plays in the big leagues,” Skenes said. “I also know that I’ve watched this game for so long, and it’s always felt so distant in a sense just because I’ve been a fan and sitting in the stands and watching all those guys compete. And now, I don’t know exactly what to expect because it’s so close.

“To an extent, it’s my decision on when I get to the big leagues based on how I do and how I work. It’s also someone’s else’s decision to pull me out. I think I’m close. I don’t know exactly how close, but I’m going to do everything in my power to get there as soon as possible.”

And, as Skenes has shown, he will do whatever it takes to accomplish that.