After Paul Skenes wraps up his baseball career, which might be more than a dozen years from now, Olivia Dunne‘s boyfriend has a surprising career plan lined up.
Skenes plans to serve in the military once his pitching days are in the past, and that’s in line with the beginning of his college career at Air Force.
The now-Pirates phenom pitched for his first two college seasons at Air Force, where he would have been forced to graduate before serving five years in the military.
Although an honorable act, that would have delayed Skenes’ earliest big-league debut to 2030.
Skenes transferred to LSU after his sophomore season and led the Tigers to a 2023 College World Series title.
Skenes has impressed many with his skills in two MLB starts with the Pirates last week
Skenes and Dunne have been dating for nearly a year after meeting as student-athletes at LSU
And now, he’s a rookie pitcher with the world of expectations in line with Stephen Strasburg and Mark Prior.
‘He will serve his country in some manner moving forward. It’s just going to be a matter of when.’ Air Force head coach Mike Kazlausky told USA Today. Paul and I have spoken about that piece. We’ll get him back in the military once his professional playing days are over. It’s a big deal for Paul to be able to serve our country.’
Skenes knew his ability when he was still training to be a cadet at the Air Force Academy in Colorado.
Kazlausky told the Times-Picayune that Skenes did not want to leave Air Force, but the Department of Defense could not come up with a good scenario for how he could turn professional after his third college season.
With the uncertainty, Skenes transferred to the powerhouse of LSU.
Skenes bet on himself, and it has massively paid off thus far. In two MLB starts, Skenes has 18 strikeouts in 10 innings of work.
His last start against the Cubs saw him throw six innings of no-hit baseball and strike out 11 batters.
