Paul Skenes is putting in some eye-opening performances in the MiLB while his girlfriend, Olivia Dunne, is hoping to compete for the national championship with the LSU Tigers gymnastics team. The Tigers are in the NCAA championship semifinals after winning the four-team regional meet against Arkansas, Kentucky and Minnesota.
Dunne, a social media celebrity, likes to keep her followers up to date on her daily life and shared a series of selfies in a black dress. She captioned her Instagram post:
"Mirror mirror on the wall…"
With Olivia Dunne and the Tigers set to compete in the semifinals, Paul Skenes is amid an exciting season of his own. His performances with the Indianapolis Indians have been very impressive and have had many wondering if the Pittsburgh Pirates will call him up for the majors soon.
Pittsburgh manager says there is "no timeline" for Paul Skenes' call-up to Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are off to a fast start in the 2024 MLB season, and while many were expecting an improved campaign, few predicted them to be 9-2 after 11 games. After a 7-4 win over the Detroit Tigers on Monday, the Pirates are atop the NL Central and looking strong.
Given Paul Skenes' talents, and after allowing only one hit and throwing six strikeouts in three innings pitched on Friday, there has been talk about his MLB future being sooner rather than later.
Pittsburgh manager Ben Cherington addressed Skenes' form on Sunday while speaking on MLB Network Radio:
“Paul's doing everything to show that there's a chance that he can really help us in 2024, and what we're doing is trying to put him in a position to do that safely and effectively. We kind of had that in the back of our mind when we drafted Paul and getting to know him this spring."
Cherington also said that there was no timeline for Skenes at the moment, but he could play a role for the team in 2024:
“He's going to start to build pitch count as we get deeper into April, confident that he'll handle that really well and we'll see where that leads us. No timeline. He's really important to us, and we think that he certainly has the ability to help us potentially this year.”
With Pittsburgh potentially competing for their first NL Central Division pennant and Paul Skenes tearing up the minors, it is certainly an exciting time for Pirates fans.