Last August, Pittsburgh Pirates No. 1 overall draft pick Paul Skenes confirmed that he and Olivia Dunne were officially dating.
Skenes dubbed it a “small world type of thing,” as both of them are LSU Tigers. Skenes was on the College World Series championship team last year, while Dunne and the gymnastics team won the national title this past weekend.
Skenes is lighting up the minor leagues, consistently clocking in at 100-plus mph and striking out 34 batters in his 17.0 innings of work, while posting a minuscule ERA of 0.53.
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Olivia Dunne and Paul Skenes, right, have been linked to each other. (Getty Images)
Oh, and despite being drafted less than a year ago, those numbers are in Triple-A, so he’s merely just one phone call away from heading to the big leagues.
Dunne admits she has “no clue” when that call will come, but she must have a feeling it’s coming up.
“I hope soon! I’m starting to get all my merch ready. I have my outfits picked out,” she told TMZ Sports while at Raising Cane’s on Tuesday.
“He’s a great guy, and we support each other through everything. He definitely makes me a better person,” she added.
In his final season at LSU, he posted a 1.69 ERA while striking out 209 batters in 122.2 innings. He also had a WHIP of 0.75.
The Pirates were an early surprise last year before falling off and finishing at 76-86. Things are so far so good this year, though, as they are 13-11, albeit in a tough NL Central in the early going (they’re in fourth place, but sit 2.0 games back of the lead).
Paul Skenes #30 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches during a spring training game against the Baltimore Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium on February 29, 2024 in Sarasota, Florida. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
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Their starters don’t exactly need Skenes’ help right now, as they’ve combined to pitch to a 3.64 ERA. Skenes is also on a bit of an innings restriction, one he isn’t particularly happy with.
The 17 innings have come in a grand total of five starts, meaning he’s averaging less than 4.0 innings per start, a far cry from the six-plus innings he averaged at LSU.
He’s been dominant, having not allowed an earned run until Wednesday afternoon. But, Skenes is part of the long-term future in a rebuilding Pirates team.
“We don’t want to go from 0 to 100 right away,” Pittsburgh GM Ben Cherington recently said on the radio last weekend, via MLB.com. “Paul’s so important to us long-term, so we want to be really thoughtful about that.”
Paul Skenes #20 of the LSU Tigers celebrates after defeating the Florida Gators 18-4 in Game 3 of the Division I Men’s Baseball Championship held at Charles Schwab Field on June 26, 2023 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
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“I wasn’t happy,” he said after being taken out in the fourth inning last week. “But…it’s over my head.”
But, Skenes’ projections are looking quite all right, and it sure seems like Dunne will be on the first flight to wherever he makes his MLB debut.
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