MLB analyst sees echoes of Taylor Swift - Travis Kelce in Olivia Dunne - Paul Skenes relationship

Pittsburgh Pirates star Paul Skenes and his social media influencer girlfriend Olivia Dunne are certainly one of the most recognizable celebrity couples today.

MLB analyst Jake Storiale feels the pair are MLB's equivalent to the Travis Kelce - Taylor Swift romance in the NFL in terms of their popularity.

Paul Skenes was selected as the no. 1 overall pick of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates and was rated as the best pitching prospect of his generation. Skenes more than lived up to the reputation after making his major league debut in May last year and went on to win Rookie of the Year. His girlfriend Olivia Dunne is part of the LSU gymnastics team as well as a famous internet personality.

Jake Storiale feels the success and popularity that both Paul Skenes and Olivia Dunne have earned in their respective careers form a good parallel for their relationship. He thinks it's similar to the relationship between Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, showing that MLB stars still have a strong stature in the entertainment industry even though it lags behind some other sports in terms of mass popularity.

Jake Storiale is a co-host of the Talkin' Baseball podcast from Jomboy Media. He gave his thoughts during the show a couple of weeks back. [13:29 - 15:27]

"I think it's really cool that she's dealing with this level of fame. She is an athlete with a level of success. There's a lot of cool overlap stuff there," Storiale said. "I think the 'it girl' argument becomes interesting because in football it'd be like Travis [Kelce] and Taylor [Swift]. That's a whole different world.

"Baseball's got some good [ones]. [Justin] Verlander to [Kate] Upton. People forget [about] Matt Kemp and Rihanna. That was huge. It was the biggest thing that happened to baseball since the pitch clock," he joked.

Paul Skenes and Olivia Dunne both belong to Louisiana State University (LSU). Skenes played for the Air Force Falcons as a freshman at college before joining the LSU Tigers in his sophomore year.

Paul Skenes accepts Rookie of the Year award at BBWAA dinner

Paul Skenes was the starting pitcher for the National League at the All-Star Game (Image Source: Imagn)

This weekend, Paul Skenes attended the 100th Annual Baseball Writer's Dinner in New York to collect his National League Rookie of the Year award in person. The Pittsburgh Pirates phenom expressed his emotions at winning the prestigious honor and jokingly vowed to make the voting process easier for the writers in the future.

"I am very excited and truly honored to win this award," Skenes said. "I want to start by saying thank you to all the writers who voted and organized this wonderful dinner. I am honored to have won this award, and I recognize it would not have been possible had you all not voted for me.

"It is my goal and intention to make voting very easy for you in the coming years. I want to thank god for giving me health and the ability to pursue what I love at a very high level." he added.

Skenes made 23 starts over his maiden major league season and produced 170 strikeouts from 133.0 innings. He ended the year with an 11-3 record, a 1.96 ERA, and a 0.947 WHIP.