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By Jarrod Prugar
For the Mirror
With a background heavily rooted in the military, it should come as no surprise that Paul Skenes loves structure.
It's what drove him to the Air Force Academy and has been a big pillar in his makeup both on and off the field. That being said, it's been an adjustment for Skenes over the past two offseasons as he adjusted to far less structure on and off the field which has helped him blossom into the player and person he is today
"It's just the nature of who I am. I really enjoy having that structure," Skenes said. "Having it imposed on me while I was at Air Force, looking back, it was something that was really good for me and something that I really enjoyed."
It's something that will be on display Saturday night at PNG Field when Skenes will pitch for the first time as a member of the Altoona Curve.
Being at the Air Force Academy and then transferring to Louisiana State, it doesn't take a long time to realize the structure is vastly different and for good reason. It forced Skenes to adapt to something new, a challenge immediately upon arriving in Baton Rouge.
"Going to LSU where there isn't as much of a you know, dynamic of structure, I guess not as much emphasis on that, to kind of having to create that for myself and with my teammates," Skenes said. "From Air Force to LSU it's pretty much the exact opposite of each other. I took the best aspects of each school and tried to live that way over the past year and now, it was a weird transition, but it was really good."
At LSU it didn't take long for Skenes to make an impact, in fact, he did it without stepping on the field. He became a leader in the clubhouse for a team already primed for College World Series contention.
"Coach Jay Johnson basically told me that he didn't want me to wait to get there and lead," Skenes said. "He wanted me to start doing it as soon as I could … The other team leaders that we had, were just unbelievable, unbelievable human beings. It made it really easy to do that from the beginning."
That ability to lead and make an impact is what endeared Johnson to him when he brought Skenes to LSU where Johnson saw the entire package continue to develop.
"It's not quite like anything I've ever seen in my life where a player of that caliber has the baseball aptitude, the leadership skills, the individual discipline, or individual character, all in one," Johnson said.
Much will be said about how Skenes plays on the field, but what can't be debated is the type of person Skenes is. Regardless of how he performs, and by all intents and purposes, he's going to do pretty well, his performance plays only a small part in what makes Paul Skenes, Paul Skenes.
"You see the baseball stuff for lack of a better term, I would say the finished product on the field," Skenes said. "Nobody really sees the work that goes into that and all the attention to detail and stuff like that, but I would say on a daily basis, I'm just trying to affect other people and impact other people in a positive way."
The finished product for Skenes, though, is a culmination of his personality, character and athleticism. It's something that is a rare combination, but when it happens has the potential to be something special.
"You're matching extraordinary talent with an extraordinary person, relative to the character piece," Johnson said. "I think you're taking qualities of a 100 mile an hour fastball, 92 mile an hour slider, plus change up, and you're matching it with the elite work ethic, elite attention to detail, elite discipline, elite leadership skills, everything. And very rarely, does the right, you know, person end up as the right athlete and that's what you get with Paul, the total package."
For Skenes, his character has driven him to be the person he is, but it's also been ingrained in him since he was young. His family drove home that being a great person far exceeds much else in this life.
"It was a point of emphasis as I was raised, with the teams that I played on and, the family that I had to be a good person and do things to the best of my ability and enjoy what I do," Skenes said. "For me, it manifests itself on the baseball field and coming into the clubhouse every day and being around the guys. But if I weren't doing baseball, I'd find another way to do that."
Fortunately for the Pirates and the Curve, Skenes is making that difference within the organization now. His debut for Altoona will be a sell-out crowd with over 8,000 fans expected to see Skenes on the mound, now just hours away from Pittsburgh, the city he soon hopes to call home.
To get there, he will have to perform and the expectations will be ever growing with each start and pitch. Though, according to Johnson, he has what it takes to be an ace both on and off the field.
"He has great belief in himself as he should," Johnson said. "He's just one of those guys that makes the right decision often, relative to knowing who he needs to be when he needs to be it, where he needs to be it and how he needs to be it."
So far, Skenes has the IT factor. Whether that continues remains to be seen, but now, Skenes is back on a structured path, throwing what's expected to be every sixth day even if it's a little bit different lifestyle for the 21-year old.
"I'm really just trying to get used to being in the locker room with a bunch of new guys, a different lifestyle," Skenes said. "Nobody at LSU was married and here there are a bunch of guys that are married and a bunch more guys that are engaged. There are just different types of dudes that are in the locker room and people from other countries that it's tough to communicate with. I'm really trying to, you know, to learn how to communicate with everybody and relate to everybody and trying to get a feel for the dynamic in the clubhouse."
It's another adjustment for Skenes who is on a strict inning limit, but just like everything else, he takes it in stride and makes the most of the experience. Though, it's easy to see Skenes is chomping at the bit for more.
"We put together a plan when I got drafted, followed it very closely and I'm lucky that my body has been able to do it," Skenes said. "We're still doing that now and having a really really good dialogue between me and the coaches and everybody who is a decision maker in this process. I'm really just taking one day at a time."
On Saturday, it will be his day. His day in the spotlight with all eyes on Altoona and PNG Field. It's a moment he's been dreaming of, but a moment that he's suited for probably more than most people at his age. According to Johnson, what people see from Skenes is unlike anything that's been seen in recent memory.
"On the field, you're going to see a pitch repertoire that rivals anything that we've seen in a long time," Johnson said. "When you talk about what he's capable of, in terms of executing pitches, it's the person inside of that though, the belief system, the character, the makeup, the confidence, the intensity, the attention to detail, that allowed that talent to come out consistently."
Saturday might be a big day for those around the baseball world and the community, but for Skenes it's another chance to have the ball in his hand and show what's made him the player he is and the player he wants to be, an ace.