Paul Skenes could be MLB's ticket to Gen Z. The Pirates ace will face it on his terms

BRADENTON, Fla. — There are times when Paul Skenes, the 22-year-old, can't escape Paul Skenes, baseball's Next Big Thing. It happens randomly and without warning. The reigning National League Rookie of the Year ran into former New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman at the Super Bowl last month. The now-retired three-time Super Bowl champion told Skenes he was a fan. Eyebrows raised and caught maybe more than a little off guard, Skenes quickly replied "same." A few days later, Skenes was minding his own business in the Bradenton-Sarasota airport after arriving for his second spring training with the Pittsburgh Pirates when he caught a glimpse of his mustachioed face staring back at him. It wasn't a mirror. It was one of the countless ads in the area featuring the flame-throwing right-hander who turned every one of his first 23 major league appearances (24 if you count the 2024 All-Star Game, which he started ) into appointment viewing. Throw in his upcoming cover appearance on the popular video game franchise MLB The Show and his recent guest spot on Late Night with Seth Meyers, and at times it can seem like he's everywhere even if he believes he's not. If Skenes is being honest — and the former Air Force cadet is nothing if not pathologically sincere — he's still getting used to the outsized attention he's commanded since making his debut last May. Yet, it also beats the alternative. If his now fully-bearded mug isn't plastered throughout Florida's Sunshine Coast this time next year, he'll know why. "If I start sucking, my photo is not going to be (there)," he told The Associated Press recently. A fresh 'Face'? Skenes understands in a way that belies his age that none of the trappings of his already remarkable success — the top overall pick in the 2023 draft finished third in last year's NL Cy Young voting too even though he didn't play a full season — will stick if he doesn't find a way to build on one of the most remarkable rookie years in a generation. Sure, the hype is nice. And yes, he's learned to lean into it a little bit. It's kind of hard not to when a baseball card featuring a patch of your jersey becomes arguably the hottest collectible in recent memory, your girlfriend happens to be one of the most followed athlete/influencers in the country and the stands are filled with little kids sporting No. 30 T-shirts and donning plastic mustaches of their own whenever you go to work. Skenes finds himself at the confluence of the game and the culture at large. From a fastball that regularly hits triple digits to a "splinker" borne out of experimentation, he has the kind of "stuff" that sends baseball purists scrambling for superlatives. He couples it with a mix of swagger and savvy that could — in theory — make him Major League Baseball's first Gen Z crossover star. It's a lot to take in for someone who was a late-bloomer by baseball standards, not truly coming into his own until his sophomore year at Air Force, where the former catcher developed so rapidly on the mound he made the difficult but necessary decision to transfer to LSU. Ask Skenes if he wants to be the "face" of the game and he deflects. He's been doing this as a pro less than two years. That kind of honorific, for the moment anyway, is reserved for the Shohei Ohtanis, Aaron Judges and Mike Trouts of the world, childhood idols quickly becoming peers. Those guys have earned the right. He hasn't. Not yet anyway. Besides, "that stuff takes energy frankly," Skenes said flatly. Leading from the front Energy that at this stage of his career he feels would be better spent refining his repertoire and trying to lead the Pirates out of a near-decade of malaise. While Skenes became an instant box office sensation from the moment he was called up, Pittsburgh faded in late summer to a 76-86 finish. There is a sense of urgency pulsing throughout Pirates City this spring. Perhaps because the clock is already ticking on the Skenes Era. Technically he is under team control through 2029. If Skenes sticks around that long — hardly a given considering Pittsburgh has traded franchise cornerstones like Gerrit Cole and Andrew McCutchen when they became too expensive — he ultimately seems destined for a megadeal from deeper-pocketed franchises like the Dodgers or Yankees. Skenes would prefer not to talk about his future. There's too much at stake in the present. He thinks the 2024 Pirates were "an underperforming team," not unlike the one he was on as a freshman at Air Force. The following season, he was named a co-captain, and the Falcons improved, though he stressed he needed a lot of "grace" from his teammates as he found his way. He's drawing on that experience to try and take a more visible, vocal role on a mostly young team that's still learning how to win. What that leadership looks like is still a little unclear. He doesn't plan to force things, optimistic that it will happen organically, though he was quick to add he's "not going to be the guy who is (cursing) other guys." He's focused on example setting. This is the same player, after all, who wears suits to the ballpark on the days he pitches. Who firmly but gently reminds Pirates prospect and good friend/workout partner Bubba Chandler that a given rep doesn't count if Chandler didn't execute it perfectly. "That's what elite people do," the 22-year-old Chandler said. 'A big old donkey' It's why Skenes' more established teammates aren't worried about the buzz that could consume others overwhelming him. Skenes is simply not wired that way. He is, as veteran left-handed starter Bailey Falter put it, "a big old donkey," a testament to both Skenes' size and what Falter called his "insane" work ethic. Skenes is aware he is supremely gifted. He does not take those gifts for granted. There isn't a meal, a drill or a decision that isn't considered and thought out. He spent the offseason studying video trying to figure out how to become more efficient. He also is trying to add a true sinker to his repertoire. The early returns from spring training have been promising. It's the game at large that matters to Skenes. Everything else that comes from his unique ability to manipulate a baseball to his will is secondary, even his future. 'The Biggest Freaking Name in Sports' The spotlight only figures to get brighter, both in Pittsburgh and beyond for someone Chandler called "the biggest freaking name in sports right now." Skenes just shook his head when that moniker was passed along. "I really try as much as I can to try and insulate myself from all that," he said. "You can't completely avoid it. But I try to insulate myself as much as I can from it to where I don't have that perception." He is willing to do what he can to promote the game up to a point. Yet there's a line he is intent on holding. The kid who grew up an Angels fan in Southern California learned about more than just baseball while watching Trout and Ohtani. Both are all-time greats who have also fiercely guarded their privacy, lending them an air of mystique. Baseball appears to be in the midst of a resurgence. Skenes understands his popularity is a small part of it. Just don't expect him to start flooding social media — he doesn't even have an active TikTok account, although he's easy to find on MLB's feed — or popping up on your favorite podcast regularly. Baseball's Next Big Thing is more intent on chasing greatness instead. Yes, fame is "cool." It's also not the point. "All we want to do is play the same game we've played since we were 3 or 4 years old," he said. "And all this other stuff comes with it, you kind of have to be built up to do that. Everybody chooses how to do it in their own way. That's very much how I am."