"He's legit" - Aaron Nola envisions fellow LSU-alum Paul Skenes having a bright pitching career in the MLB

On Tuesday, Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola talked about the Pittsburgh Pirates prodigy Paul Skenes and how he sees him having a lot of success in the future. Skenes and Nola are alumni of the Louisiana State University.

Nola has been having a decent season so far but struggled on the mound against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday. The Phillies starter gave up four earned runs in six innings as the Dodgers won Game 1 of the series 5-3.

Speaking to Mookie Betts on On Base, Nola talked about how Skenes has delivered on his potential despite having his fair share of doubters.

[20:48] "He's better now, I think," Nola said. "He was dominating in college. He won the World Series with LSU. There were a lot of people that said, 'Is he going to be able to be good?' You know how people are with No. 1 picks, but he's legit."

Talking about how the youngster has a multitude of pitches in his arsenal and makes good decisions, Nola added:

"He's got a good head on his shoulders, he's got several pitches, as a young kid that's pretty good and he throws a million [different kinds of pitches].

"I really hope he stays healthy because I feel like he's gonna have a really good career. He's obviously going to go through some ups and downs, which everybody does, and I think it's going to make him better. I enjoy watching him pitch."

Paul Skenes notched 100th MLB strikeout in the 13th start

The Paul Skenes hype train continues to gather speed with every passing start. In the 5-3 win against the Houston Astros on Jul. 29, the ace recorded the 100th strikeout of his young major league career.

To get to 100 strikeouts is a big enough achievement for a rookie, and to do it in the time that Skenes has done makes the feat even more notable. The rookie is only the sixth pitcher to get to 100 strikeouts in 13 games since the pitching mound was set to its current distance in 1893.

After the win in Houston, the Pirates ace started at home against the in-form Arizona Diamondbacks and had a rare short outing on the mound. Skenes pitched only 5.1 innings as the home side blew an early 4-run lead to lose 6-5.

Skenes' next appearance on the mound will likely be on the road at Dodger Stadium in what promises to be an exciting battle against Shohei Ohtani and co.