Sports Extra: Paul Skenes returns to Colorado
DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) -- Paul Skenes is one of the greatest athletes, regardless of sport, to play at Air Force. He's also the most exciting pitching prospect in over a decade. He's been outstanding this season with a 2.43 ERA, while striking out an impressive 12 batters per 9 innings. Skenes is back in Colorado as a member of the Pirates after making his big league debut on May 11. He spoke to the Colorado media for the first time as a major leaguer. KRDO13 was the only Colorado Springs station who made the trip to speak with him.
It started at air force where he became college baseball’s best player; both as a hitter, and a pitcher.
It continued at LSU where he won a national championship.
His college career culminated with the MLB draft where he was the first overall pick. A lot has changed for Paul Skenes in the last two years.
"I think how quickly everything's happened is is the the thing that surprised me the most," Skenes said pregame. He credits his time at Air Force in helping him prepare for life as a major league pitcher.
"You have you have to learn how to be, you know, one day at a time, and be present at the Air Force Academy. You can't play pro ball if you're not present. There have been a lot of really great lessons that have come from the Air Force Academy that I couldn't have gotten anywhere else."
After originally being scheduled to pitch against the Rockies on Sunday, the Pirates pushed his start back to Monday, so we’ll have to wait another year to see Skenes pitch at Coors field. He was asked if that was a bummer.
"A little bit, but pitching in Colorado is, you know, has its own challenges," Skenes said with a smile. "So either way, I'm going to get to see the folks that are out here. It would have been called a pitch on Father's Day out here with with all the people that I know. But, you know, it's the game."
But he’s still able to appreciate being back in Colorado…
"I've hung out in Denver a little bit. I've been to this stadium as a fan before. And, you know, driving back to the Air Force Academy, I've made that drive dozens of times at this point... There's memories everywhere for me. Colorado is unlike anywhere else that I've ever been. The memories that it brings back, the relationships it brings out for me, the lessons that I've learned here just I mean, it gets me emotional. It's it's this has been an awesome, huge part of my life. And I know we're going to come back here every single year. And I'm looking forward to this trip."
And while his last college stop was LSU, he says he'll forever be an Air Force Falcon.
"I get labeled as the LSU guy because obviously I got drafted out of there, but I'm just as much an Air Force guy. I am an LSU guy, but I definitely want people to know how fond I am of my time in the Air Force and the relationships that I got there."
KRDO13 did a story on Paul Skenes while he was at Air Force. You can find that story here.
