Paul Skenes: From High School Standout to MLB Stardom
Paul Skenes has rapidly ascended to baseball prominence, captivating fans with his exceptional talent and unwavering dedication. His journey, marked by academic excellence, athletic prowess, and a strong work ethic, has propelled him from a high school standout to a Major League Baseball sensation.
Early Life and High School Career
Paul David Skenes was born on May 29, 2002, in Fullerton, California. He grew up in Lake Forest and attended El Toro High School, the alma mater of major leaguers Nolan Arenado and Matt Chapman. Skenes excelled both academically and athletically. As a senior at Lake Forest's El Toro High School, Skenes had a 4.76 GPA.
Skenes played three years of varsity baseball as a two-way player, showcasing his versatility as a catcher, first baseman, third baseman, and pitcher. In his junior season, he posted a 0.67 earned run average (ERA). He was voted to the all-star teams for the Coast View Athletic Association, Orange County, the CIF Southern Section, and the state of California. 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. He was named to the all-county first team following the season.
Collegiate Career: Air Force and LSU
In September 2018, during his junior year, Skenes announced his commitment to attend the United States Air Force Academy and play college baseball for the Air Force Falcons. Before becoming one of the hottest MLB players, Paul Skenes had a standout collegiate career at Louisiana State University, and Air Force Academy. One of Skenes' favorite quotes is, "Nobody cares, work harder."
After high school, Skenes took a pragmatic approach to his career and enrolled at Air Force. Even though he showed discipline before going to college, Skenes says his time at Air Force had a profound impact, especially the basic training. As evidenced by his impressive high school GPA, Paul Skenes took school seriously, but being at Air Force was a different level of discipline. While at Air Force, Skenes understood the seriousness of the military training. Skenes took a workmanlike approach to academics, military training, and of course his time on the mound.
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During his time at the Air Force Academy, Skenes excelled as a two-way player. In 2022, he won the John Olerud Award, given annually to the best two-way player in college baseball.
After two years at the academy, Skenes faced a crossroads. With his baseball career taking off, he realized he had a choice to make: serve or play the game he loves. Skenes entered the NCAA transfer portal after his sophomore season and in just a few weeks announced he was enrolling at LSU. He led the Tigers to a college baseball championship his senior year, and racked up numerous awards, including National Pitcher of the Year and College World Series Most Outstanding Player. Skenes also broke LSU’s record for strikeouts in a single season at 203.
MLB Draft and Professional Career
The Pittsburgh Pirates 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 Ben McDonald.
On July 7, 2024, he was selected to the 2024 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, becoming the first No. On March 27, 2025, Skenes was the Opening Day starting pitcher for the 2025 Pirates. Facing the Miami Marlins at LoanDepot Park, he pitched five1⁄3 innings, giving up two hits and walking two while striking out seven. On July 6, Skenes was named to the 2025 All-Star Game roster, his second consecutive NL All-Star selection. On July 12, National League team manager Dave Roberts named Skenes the starting pitcher for the National League for the game, his second consecutive year to receive the selection. Skenes threw a scoreless inning in the All-Star game, striking out Gleyber Torres and Riley Greene and retiring Aaron Judge with a groundout. Skenes was named as National League Pitcher of the Month for July after posting a 3-2 record, 0.67 ERA, allowing 21 hits and two earned runs, striking out 36 batters, and walked three in 27 innings. It was the first time he earned Pitcher of the Month in his career. Skenes' 50 start on August 24 against the Colorado Rockies and he lowered his career ERA to 2.02. Since the start of the Live Ball Era in 1920, the only pitcher to have a lower ERA over their first 50 starts is Vida Blue, who recorded a 2.01 ERA from 1969-1972. On September 10, Skenes pitched five innings, giving up two hits, and striking out eight batters against Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. With those eight Ks, Skenes recorded his first 200-strikeout season. He became the 8th Pirates pitcher in franchise history to strike out 200 batters in a season, joining Ed Morris, Bob Veale, Óliver Pérez, Mitch Keller, A. J. Burnett, Francisco Liriano, and Gerrit Cole. Skenes finished the season with a 1.97 ERA, the first sub-2.00 ERA for a starting pitcher since Justin Verlander's 1.75 ERA with the Houston Astros in 2022. He became the fourth player in the live ball era (since 1920) to record an ERA that low in his age-23 season or younger, joining Dwight Gooden (1985 at age 20), Vida Blue (1971, age 21), and Dean Chance (1964, age 23).
The Pirates signed Skenes to a record $9.2 million signing bonus. After working through the Pirates’ farm system in just one season, he made his MLB debut in May 2024 and was named the starting pitcher for the National League in the 2024 All-Star Game, becoming only the fifth rookie in MLB history to do so. Skenes was named to his second All-Star Game in 2025.
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Pitching Style and Development
Skenes' success is attributed to his powerful fastball, devastating splinker, and continuous pursuit of improvement.
“There’s no short answer there,” Johnson said. “You’re trying to get the optimal hip and shoulder separation and time up that hip and shoulder separation. We worked on that a lot. “But you don’t get this kind of stuff without hard work,” Johnson said. “The first thing we started with was his off-speed,” Johnson said. “We needed to get his slider tighter, and we did and it became a sweeper. I split his grip on the slider. “He already had a good changeup, but because we were trying to get his lower half to move a little different, we knew it was going to speed up his arm.
“He had a good foundation of a delivery before that,” Cherington said, “but there were some important adjustments he made in the fall and over the winter, some of that with LSU and with Wes Johnson, and some of that on his own over the winter.
“Man, there aren’t too many guys who can move from one side of the rubber to another with a lefty and a righty, depending on who he’s facing,” Marin said. “That takes elite body control.
“I can’t give you a short answer on that, but I’ll try,” Johnson said.
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Personal Life and Relationship with Livvy Dunne
Skenes is in a relationship with former LSU gymnast and social media influencer Livvy Dunne. Dunne had a huge social media presence even before meeting Skenes, which helped her become one of the highest-paid women in sports once the NCAA ruled athletes can profit off their name, image and likeness. Dunne’s estimated earnings through NIL exceed $4 million.
Skenes admitted Dunne helped him navigate that world. “She dealt with the attention and the notoriety, and that kind of thing longer than I have. So having her around when it happened to me was really good. It’s kind of one of those things where you don’t know how to tell someone to do it, but you can show them how to do it. And she showed me how to do it from a very early point in my career,” Skenes said.
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