2023 MLB Draft No. 1 overall pick Paul Skeens revealed how much his girlfriend Olivia Dunn helped him get through the days leading up to Saturday’s major league debut.
Skeens, who has taken the minor leagues by storm and has been making a lot of noise throughout the baseball world as one of the top pitching prospects in recent years, will be featured on The Show for the Pirates vs. the Cubs starting at 4 p.m. ET. He is scheduled to be a starter for the first time.
Dunn, an LSU gymnast and social media star, told MLB Network on Friday night that she was there to deal with the increasing pressure.
“It was really good. She helped me in a lot of ways in terms of dealing with the hype and how to manage everything that comes with being a pro athlete. “It was great,” Skeens said the day before his debut.
This season, Skeens had a 0.99 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings and seven starts for the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians in the Pirates’ minor league system.
On Saturday, he will face the Cubs’ Justin Steele, who started two games and pitched 9 1/3 innings with an impressive 0.96 ERA.
In April, Dunn, who had been in the spotlight for some time as a senior gymnast at LSU, watched as her teammates led the school to its first individual all-around championship.
Skeens won a national title with LSU in 2023 and was named Most Valuable Player at the College World Series.
Dunn has another year of eligibility remaining due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but has not publicly announced his future plans.
She is famous in the field of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) and has an estimated worth of $3.7 million. According to On3and she has partnered with several brands including Accelerator Energy Drink, American Eagle, Forever 21, Motorola, and Nautica.
Dan was also featured as a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model in 2023.
