Paul Skenes and Olivia Dunne are one of the most popular young couples in the US, with the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher and LSU gymnast/social media sensation both being only 21.
While Skenes has been reassigned to the MiLB by the Pirates, his future appears exceptionally bright, and the same goes for Dunne, who's in her senior year at LSU.
Dunne keeps her 7.9 million followers on TikTok up to date with her daily life. This was the case on Tuesday when she added a photo of her without makeup, followed by one of her dressed up. She captioned the post:
"The side the media does NOT want to see you #foryou."
Fans were quick to flood the comments section with affection.
Dunne is yet to decide on whether she will return to LSU for a fifth year. She said the following during an LSU press conference:
"Yeah I’ve not decided if I’m coming back for a fifth year yet, I could but I haven’t really thought about it yet. I’m so focused on the end of this year and bringing home the national championship."
While Olivia Dunne's future is yet to be decided, it seems a near-certainty that Paul Skenes will be pitching in the MLB for a few years.
Paul Skenes' MiLB debut was a promising sign of what's to come
The news that Paul Skenes was being resigned to the minors broke in March and came as no real surprise, given his need for experience. The Pirates assigned him to the Indianapolis Indians, who were delighted to receive such a prospect.
On his debut in Louisville, Skenes threw 46 pitches, 29 of them strikes, and looked impressive on the mound. That obviously got fans talking about how long it would be until Skenes is in the MLB, but Pittsburgh doesn't want to rush him.
Skenes said after the game:
"I got too deep into some counts. It was just a little bit of like first start of the year, just overcooked some pitches. Not like jitters or nerves or anything like that, just trying to do too much with some pitches.
"And as the hitters get more used to seeing stuff and that kind of thing, I'm not going to get away with that in the middle of the year. So I'm just going to try to be as perfect as possible with that kind of stuff."
With a lot of attention being paid to Paul Skenes' progression, it will be interesting to see how the 2023 draft's No. 1 pick develops.