Pirates GM Ben Cherington opens up about Paul Skenes' development and possibility of seeing him in Major League Baseball in 2024

Highly touted Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospect Paul Skenes has yet to make his major league debut. The 21-year-old was selected No. 1 in the 2023 MLB draft and was even signed to a $9.2 million bonus.

Recently, Pirates GM Ben Cherington joined the MLB Network to discuss the development of last year's No. 1 draft pick and the possibility of seeing him play in MLB next season:

"I think it's certainly possible," Cherington said. "He's gonna tell us and anticipate him; you know him being a part of spring training. Obviously, we don't wanna rush anything. We want him every opportunity to be the best version of himself for as long as possible in Pittsburgh. We know he's gonna get after this offseason. He's very focused in the way he does his work."

Moreover, he added that Skenes is everything they anticipated before drafting him:

"Everything we learned about Paul after signing him is pretty much affirm to what we thought before. He's not the guy who waits for the challenge, he pursues the challenge and we're not gonna put any sealing on him."

The Pirates will need to manage the workload of Skenes in the early part of the season. It will be interesting to see if the pitching prospect can translate his college baseball success into the majors.

Paul Skenes' college baseball career and accomplishments

Paul Skenes was born into a military family in Orange County, California, where he attended El Toro High School. He enrolled in the United States Air Force Academy and played in their college baseball program.

In his sophomore season in 2022, he won the best two-way player John Olerud award. Skenes had a 1.69 earned run average (ERA) and set a single-season school record with 209 strikeouts in his lone season at LSU. He was named Southeastern Conference and national pitcher of the year, as well as receiving the Dick Howser Trophy.

Moreover, he also won the National Pitcher of the Year Award and SEC Pitcher of the Year in 2023.

For LSU, he even went on to play in the 2023 Men's College World Series and was the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.