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The 2023 MLB draft made history Sunday night as Louisiana State’s Paul Skenes and Dylan Cruz became the first teammates to go 1-2 from the plate.
Skenes, the pitcher, and Crews, the outfielder, played complementary roles to help the LSU Tigers to the NCAA baseball championship last month.
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Skenes came off the plate first, earning the #1 MLB Draft pick to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The move was somewhat surprising as most baseball insiders had expected the Pirates to go with the bat for their pick—many thought the Crew would be the pick—but Pittsburgh went with the player considered the best pitcher in the draft.
However, Skenes does have some offensive ability, as he was a former two-way contributor who also played catcher. In his first year at LSU after transferring to Baton Rouge from the Air Force Academy, he posted a 1.69 ERA with 15.3 strikeouts with just 1.5 walks per nine innings.
With Skenes off the plate, the Washington Nationals quickly snapped the Crew with the second pick. Many insiders considered Crews the best player in the MLB draft after she won the 2023 Golden Spikes Award, which honors the best amateur player in the United States.
A center fielder by trade, Crews has accumulated more walks than strikeouts in his collegiate career. He is considered by many insiders to be the most pro-ready player in the draft.
In the College World Series, Skenes started four games, winning all of them for LSU, and allowing only four runs while striking out 42 in 32-1/3 innings pitched.
426 with an on-base percentage of 0.567 and a slugging percentage of 0.713 in the 2023 season, and hit 18 homers to help lead the Tigers to their seventh national championship in program history.
Of course, there will always be naysayers, but most expect both Skenes and Crews to have massive careers in the league.
High school student going third in the MLB draft
The Detroit Tigers selected Max Clark from Franklin High School in Indiana with the third pick of the MLB draft. Clark was considered a potential No. 1 pick, but fell to No. 3 behind his LSU teammates.
Clark has shown his power when wielding a wooden bat, hitting home runs from both Tropicana Field and Dodger Stadium in exhibition games.
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