PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Just two years ago they were midway through a path to win a national championship together, Monday night for the first time pitcher Paul Skenes and outfielder Dylan Crews will oppose each other in a major league game as the Pirates host the Nationals.
“I'm excited,” Crews said before the game on Monday. “It's something that we've been looking forward to for a while now. He's a good buddy of mine. We've had some good history with each other. I'm just excited for this day, it's gonna be fun.”
Fun is an interesting description. Few have fun facing Skenes although for those that love a challenge, there are few bigger. Crews said they faced each other a few times while at LSU, but said the Tigers the coaching staff didn’t want them facing each other. The outfielder did hit a home run back in 2021 off Skenes when he was a reliever at the Air Force Academy.
Crews laughed when asked if that is the plan Monday night. He said just hopefully some good at bats, but that he was going out there to compete.
There is no surprise to Crews that Skenes quickly became a dominant pitcher and an odds-on favorite to win the NL Cy Young Award.
“We knew he was special when he was at school,” Crews said. “Now he's here doing his thing. Won Rookie of the Year last year and he's off to a great start this year. Very happy for him.”
Skenes is known in the majors for his work ethic and attention to detail, Crews said he was just like that at LSU. A guy totally locked into his routines. He called Skenes and unbelievable teammate and he cherishes those moments together.
To that point, he said they never really talked much about competing against each other after they were drafted.
“We were so locked in to try and win a national championship at that point,” Crews said. “We didn’t have that much time in-between the national championship and getting drafted. I think it was a week or two. After the national championship we just kind of split off and did our own thing. We are here now and definitely enjoying these moments.”
Even though both are in the big leagues, success has come quicker for Skenes. Crews is hitting .116 with five singles in 43 at bats with three stolen bases with two walks to 17 strikeouts. The right-handed hitter believes he’s just a little unlucky right now and there is a lot of time in the season to turn it around. What he is not going to do is panic and chase numbers. He is sticking with his plan, much like his LSU teammate he faces Monday.