"I've grown up watching Shohei Ohtani, I grew up an Angels fan" - Paul Skenes opens up about facing childhood heroes in MLB

Pittsburgh Pirates phenom Paul Skenes admitted that he grew up admiring Shohei Ohtani since he was a Los Angeles Angels fan as a kid. The 23-year-old starting pitcher said he cherishes the times when he comes up against the superstars he had idolized growing up, but he has to keep his emotions under wraps to maintain his focus on the mound.

Paul Skenes grew up in Orange County, California, and therefore the Los Angeles Angels were the closest MLB team to his home. Skenes was selected as the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 Draft and made his debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates within a year in May 2024. He posted a dominant season to be named NL Rookie of the Year even though the Pirates finished at the bottom of their division.

On Sunday, Paul Skenes appeared as a guest on the 'Baseball Is Dead' podcast from the Pittsburgh Pirates spring training camp in Bradenton, Florida. He spoke about his experience of facing his childhood heroes on a major league mound. [From 19:04]

"The thing I told myself when I got drafted, and before the draft, was that I'd never want to forget how cool it is, what I have a chance to do, what I'm doing," Skenes said. "I've grown up watching Shohei Ohtani. I grew up an Angels fan. I've grown up watching Mookie [Betts], and I've grown up watching Freddie [Freeman].

"In my first game, I was pitching against the Cubs, and among a lot of other talented players, Cody Bellinger was in there, who I grew up watching," he added. "So, it's pretty sweet, but you've got to dial it in. If you go out of that locked-in phase, you've got to flip it back in real quick. So I try not to flip it out."

Skenes was a two-way player like Ohtani as an amateur, starting first as a catcher before moving on to the mound. In 2022, he won the John Olerud Award, given to the best two-way player in college baseball.

"You can't play the game as a fan": Paul Skenes

Paul Skenes was selected by the Pirates as the No. 1 pick in 2023 MLB Draft (Image Source: IMAGN)

During his appearance on the podcast, Paul Skenes stated that he doesn't let himself be in awe of the opposing hitter even though he may have grown up watching him since he was a child. Skenes said that in order to be able to compete against the top players in the game, he has to block out all his admiration for them once he enters the field.

"You can't play this game as a fan," he said. "You can't be pitching and be in awe that Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are in the box against you, because you can give up a three-spot real quick against those guys. So you can't play the game as a fan."

Paul Skenes made 23 starts during his rookie campaign and finished with an 11-3 record. He pitched 133.0 innings with an outstanding 1.96 ERA and 0.947 WHIP to finish in third place for the NL Cy Young Award.