"My little rookie" - Paul Skenes' girlfriend Olivia Dunne reflects on special moments with Pirates ace as his impressive rookie season concludes

Olivia Dunne was in New York to attend her beau, Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes' last game of his rookie season. He got the start against the New York Yankees on Saturday at Yankee Stadium.

Skenes, who was picked first overall by the Pirates in 2023 after he helped LSU win the College World Series, has shown his immense potential in his rookie season. He capped off his incredible rookie season with two perfect innings, which involved striking out the likes of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto.

One day after the game, Olivia Dunne celebrated Paul Skenes' rookie season with snaps of her with him from Saturday's game. One snap involved the couple enjoying the rookie's first All-Star selection.

"My little rookie," Dunne captioned.

Paul Skenes speaks about his rookie season with Olivia Dunne in attendance

While Skenes didn't last long in his final start, the Pirates would go on to win the game against the Yankees, 9-4. Skenes' last pitch was a 99.6 mph fastball to retire Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Skenes' season, which ended with Olivia Dunne in attendance, had all the making of one of the best rookie seasons in MLB history. Finishing with an 11-3 record, a 1.96 ERA, a 0.95 WHIP and 170 strikeouts over 133 innings pitched, Skenes produced an excellent season that will likely get him the NL Rookie of the Year win.

“Definitely glad to be able to finish the season and be able to do it here,” Skenes said per MLB.com. “Cool to do it against this lineup. So [I] wish I could keep going, but that's where we're at."

Pirates manager Derek Shelton was also full of praise for his prized ace.

“To have a sub-two ERA in his first year, especially in today's era, that's pretty special,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton. “I think we're seeing a guy that's really elite, has the ability to make pitches and has room for growth. I think that's really fun for Pirates fans, if that's the case."

According to Sarah Langs of MLB, Paul Skenes registered the best ERA for a rookie with a minimum of 20 starts since 1913, when the stat was recorded. His 1.96 ERA just came up short of Reb Russell's 1.90 mark.

Three of the four sub-2.00 ERA rookie seasons were from the noted dead-ball era in baseball, which makes Skenes' season all the more impressive.