Paul Skenes doesn't need to prove that he's more than just Olivia Dunne's boyfriend. Yet, the LSU Tigers' former star pitcher and No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft displayed yesterday why he soon might become a bigger name than his social media sensation girlfriend.
Skenes made his spring training debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday — one day after Dunne went viral for posting her attempt to prank Skenes on TikTok, asking whether he thinks she should accept a fake deal from ExxonMobil to work as an underwater welder for a day — and breezed through a 10-pitch inning against the Baltimore Orioles.
The most impressive moment from Skenes' one-inning outing came when he threw a blazing 102 mph fastball against Orioles hitter Heston Kierstad.
Dunne boasted about the impressive pitch and Skenes' overall outing on her Instagram story, reposting a video of the 102 mph pitch and adding the caption 'something slight'.
That wasn't all the boasting Dunne did about Skenes on Thursday, as she also mentioned him during the tail end of her on-air interview with ESPN.
"He just left for spring training," Dunne said when asked how everything is going with Skenes. "And it's going great. He's about to debut in a spring training game today. Really hoping I get to watch."
When asked whether she tell when Skenes has his A-game during outings, Dunne said, "He's pretty level-headed all the time — that's what I love about him — and I think we're a really good pair because of that. Because I have such a crazy lifestyle and things get thrown my way all the time. Sometimes, my emotions can sway and he's very level, and I just think it's a very good match."
Yesterday's aforementioned prank conveyed as much, when Skenes didn't question his girlfriend's supposed decision to attempt one of the world's most dangerous occupations for TikTok content, and instead offered his unquestioned support.
While Dunne is currently in pursuit of LSU's first ever national championship in gymnastics, we can likely expect to see her supporting Skenes in person whenever her season ends.
