Skenes aims to blossom into more than just the hype that'll precede him

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Heading into spring training for the first time in his career, Paul Skenes appears focused on getting his feet wet a bit more as a pitcher at the professional level. 

But that doesn’t mean last year’s No. 1 overall pick isn’t determined to make a bid for the opening day roster once camp concludes next month. 

"I think it’s a little bit of both,” said Skenes, who spoke during the first day of workouts for pitchers and catchers at Pirate City Wednesday. “Just being my first spring training, I think it's going to be valuable to get used to it. I just have to. With that said, obviously I'm trying to win a spot, but it's not all in my control. All I can do is go out and pitch well, do my work and it will take care of itself."

Skenes’ long-term plans are far from solidified, but count Derek Shelton as one of the handful of people excited to watch baseball's top pitching prospect throw during his time in Bradenton. 

“I think it's a situation where you take a guy as high as we did in the draft and then we kind of eased him into professional baseball, but to be able to see him live is exciting,” Shelton said. “His progression as he continues to pitch, we're happy about. To see him in person and be able to get him on the mound, I think it's something organizationally that we're excited about.”

After a successful collegiate career at Air Force and LSU, Skenes got a small taste of what pro ball was like with five brief starts between three different levels toward the end of last year. In just 6 2/3 innings, he allowed four earned runs -- all in two starts at Double-A Altoona --  on five hits with 10 strikeouts and two walks. 

His pro debut followed a college season in which he compiled a 13-2 record with a 1.69 ERA and 0.75 WHIP in 19 starts. He totaled 209 strikeouts and 20 walks in 122 2/3 innings while helping lead LSU to its seventh national championship. 

Looking back on the start to his pro career, Skenes valued the opportunity to get acclimated to a routine and get adjusted to the differences between play at the collegiate and professional levels.

"Obviously LSU was kind of the peak of it, in terms of college baseball, but being able to throw in pro ball and that kind of thing, I was really lucky for it,” Skenes said. “It gave me a really good plan going into the offseason and heading into camp that we were able to execute really well over the offseason.”

The 6-foot-5, 235-pound right-hander will still have to adjust to a much larger workload as a professional pitcher, but it’s a challenge he’s seemingly ready to embrace. 

"In my experience, I don't know if it's easier or harder with a five- or six-day rotation as opposed to a seven-day,” Skenes said. “The nice thing is I get to compete more often, which is more fun. I think it's just different. You can't get away with as much. I need to show up every day, so having a really good routine is really important. More than anything, that's what I learned."

Skenes enters the 2024 campaign with high expectations as the No. 3 overall prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline.com. Still, he doesn't put a lot of stock into that. 

"Honestly, it's kind of just words. I've got to go out there and prove it," Skenes said. "It's cool to have other people think that, but it doesn't matter at the end of the day. It's about executing and winning baseball games."

As for Skenes' spring training experience, he said he's focused on simply learning and getting better while surrounded by others with the same goals. 

"It was nice to have the offseason and get some good work on my own, but I think there is something valuable to being on a team, getting to work with the same guys every day,” Skenes said. “We've got a lot of good guys with a cool pedigree in the major leagues that hopefully I'm going to pick their brains on it. I'm just looking forward to that."