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Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer
SEATTLE — Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews, star teammates on the LSU team that won the Men’s College World Series, were selected with the first two picks of Major League Baseball’s amateur draft on Sunday, becoming the first pair of teammates to go 1-2 in draft history.
The Pittsburgh Pirates began the draft by picking Skenes, the hard-throwing pitcher, No. 1 overall, and the Washington Nationals followed with Crews, the power-hitting outfielder.
Skenes became the first pitcher to go No. 1 overall since Casey Mize was selected by the Detroit Tigers in 2008. Skenes’ selection was announced by Seattle Mariners legend Ken Griffey Jr.
Skenes went 12-2 with a 1.69 ERA and a Division I-leading 209 strikeouts, breaking the single-season SEC record, in 122⅔ innings for an LSU Tigers team that went on to win the Men’s College World Series. Skenes became the first pitcher ever to win Most Outstanding Player at the Men’s College World Series and then go No. 1 overall.
Crews became the first player ever to win the Golden Spikes Award, a national title and be drafted in the top five within a single year.
Ranked third heading into the draft by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, Skenes regularly throws his fastball into the triple digits and couples it with a plus slider that could make him a major leaguer as early as 2024. Crews was a two-time SEC Player of the Year who slashed .426/.567/.713 with 18 homers in 71 games as a sophomore this past season.
The Pirates were selecting first overall for the second time in three years — they took Henry Davis in 2021 and called him up to the major leagues three weeks earlier — and the sixth time overall, more than any other team. They enter the draft with the highest bonus pool at just over $16 million; slot value for the No. 1 overall pick sits at $9,721,000, but teams and players are free to negotiate their own bonus.
MLB is hosting the draft from Lumen Field, which sits adjacent to T-Mobile Park and hosts the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL and the Seattle Sounds of MLS. The draft consists of 20 rounds and will take place over the course of three days, with the first 70 picks taking place on Sunday. The Pirates were awarded the No. 1 overall pick by virtue of winning MLB’s first draft lottery in December.