Tag: LSU in MLB

Paul Skenes named an MLB All-Star as a rookie

Paul Skenes has been recognized as an MLB All-Star in his first season.

[autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] has been recognized as an MLB All-Star in his first season.

Skenes was called up for his first major league start on May 11 against the Chicago Cubs. Since then, he has been dealing. He has a 5-0 record and a 2.12 ERA in 10 appearances for the Pirates. He has struck out 78 hitters while only walking 12 over that span.

Skenes was a star for Air Force before transferring to LSU last year to take a bet on his future as a baseball player.

He quickly became one of the most dangerous pitchers in the country and his stats led to him being picked with the No. 1 pick of the [autotag]MLB Draft[/autotag] by the [autotag]Pittsburgh Pirates[/autotag]. Skenes spent all of his time in 2023 in the minor leagues as he made five starts.

This season, he started out with the Pirates’ Triple-A team and made seven starts, and finished with a 0-0 record and a 0.99 ERA.

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Jeff Passan makes a pitch for Paul Skenes to start MLB All-Star Game

Jeff Passan of ESPN has an idea on how to help grow the game.

[autotag]Jeff Passan[/autotag] of ESPN has an idea on how to help “grow the game” as Rob Manfred always likes to talk about. His idea? Make [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] the starter of the All-Star Game.

The No. 1 pick of the 2023 MLB Draft was called up to the [autotag]Pittsburgh Pirates[/autotag] to make his major league debut on June 11th against the Chicago Cubs. So far, that first game has been his roughest start. Since that game, Skenes is 5-0 with a 1.59 ERA.

His overall stats are 5-0 with a 2.12 ERA in 59.1 innings. Skenes has not pitched enough innings to qualify for the best ERA in the league, but if he had, he would have the lowest ERA in the MLB. Remember, he is just a rookie. He has been breaking records already in only the second month of his career.

He has 78 strikeouts and 12 walks this year and after last night’s win over the Mets, Skenes became the only pitcher in MLB history to strike out 70+ hitters through his first nine career starts while allowing less than 14 runs.

Passan makes a great point, if you want people to watch this All-Star Game, start Skenes against Gunnar Henderson, Aaron Judge, and Juan Soto in the first inning. It would be electric.

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Paul Skenes continues to break records during rookie season

Paul Skenes has quickly become one of the best pitchers in the MLB.

[autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] has quickly become one of the best pitchers in the MLB. He had a ton of hype surrounding him after he was the No. 1 draft pick in the 2023 draft and so far he has exceeded all expectations.

On Friday night, Skenes made his 10th start of the season and he became the only pitcher in MLB history to strike out 70+ batters through his first nine career starts while allowing less than 14 runs. He helped lead the Pirates to a win over the Mets as he pitched seven full innings and allowed two runs on four hits, eight strikeouts, and two walks.

That brings his season record to 5-0 with a 2.12 ERA. He has struck out 78 hitters while only walking 12 over 59.1 innings of work. Skenes makes the best hitters in the world look average. I think he is only going to get better as his career progresses. He is heavily in the running for Rookie of the Year.

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Former LSU baseball standout Dylan Crews secures spot in All-Star Futures Game

Dylan Crews has earned a spot on the National League roster for the All-Star Futures Game.

[autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag] is not the only former Tiger making waves in the minor leagues. [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] has earned a spot on the National League roster for the [autotag]All-Star Futures Game.[/autotag]

Last month, Crews was called up from the Washington Nationals Double-A affiliate the Harrisburg Senators to the Nationals Triple-A affiliate the Rochester Red Wings. Since joining the Red Wings on June 18, Crews has a .259 batting average with three doubles, two homers and seven RBI. He has only appeared in 12 games so his average will fluctuate a lot early on. He had a .283 batting average until he went 0-for-5 in his game on July 1.

Crews will play one of the outfield positions for the National League in the Futures Game in Arlington, Texas. He will be joined by his Nationals teammate James Wood.

Crews was just called up to Trile-A but if he keeps performing at a high level, we could see him playing for the Washington Nationals soon.

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Former LSU baseball star Tre Morgan earns a spot in the All-Star Futures Game

Former LSU first baseman Tre Morgan has been putting on a show in the minor leagues for the Tampa Bay Rays.

Former LSU first baseman [autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag] has been putting on a show in the minor leagues for the [autotag]Tampa Bay Rays[/autotag]. Back in May, we wrote about how he was being promoted from the Rays Low-A affiliate to the High-A affiliate as he made it one step closer to the MLB.

Since his call-up to the [autotag]Bowling Green Hot Rods[/autotag], Tre has been even better than he was before. In 24 games he has a .363 batting average with 11 doubles, one triple, two homers and 23 RBI. Last month, he finished with a .283 batting average with two doubles, one triple and 10 RBI.

Those numbers have earned him a spot in the [autotag]All-Star Futures Game[/autotag] in Arlington, Texas. Morgan is listed as an inactive selection so he will not participate in the game but the honor still stands. If Tre continues to play as well as he has been he could be called up to play for the Montgomery Biscuits, the Rays AA affiliate.

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Former LSU pitcher Aaron Nola begins historic triple-play

Former LSU pitcher Aaron Nola kicked off the first 1-3-5 triple play since 1929.

Former LSU starting pitcher [autotag]Aaron Nola[/autotag] is having a year with the Philadelphia Phillies. Nola’s been one of the most consistent starters in the National League with a 119 ERA+ and 3.82 FIP.

In his start on Tuesday, Nola helped the Phillies defense make history, forcing the first 1-3-5 triple play since July 11, 1929.

It came in the bottom of the third when Nola threw a sinker to the Detroit Tigers’ lead-off man Matt Vierling. Nola induced soft contact and a broken bat before catching the ball. Nola tossed to first to get the second out with the Tigers’ baserunner away from the bag. A base running blunder on the other side of the diamond allowed Philly to get the third force at third, completing the play.

Nola went on to throw seven innings of one-run baseball. He struck out six and walked none. It was Nola’s seventh quality start in his last eight games.

Nola isn’t the only former LSU pitcher having success this year. [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] continues to impress as a rookie sensation and while [autotag]Kevin Gausman[/autotag] isn’t having his typical campaign, his FIP indicates he’s due for some positive regression.

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Watch Dylan Crews go yard for first hit at Triple-A level

Dylan Crews’ first hit at the Triple-A level was certainly an impressive one.

Former LSU star and second overall pick in the 2023 MLB draft [autotag]Dylan Crews[/autotag] hasn’t been at Triple-A long, but he’s making his mark.

After a rough start to the season in Double-A, Crews has been red hot recently and earned a call-up from the Washington Nationals to the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings earlier this week.

The Triple-A level has presented a learning curve for Crews, who has just one base hit in his first 10 at-bats. That one hit was an impressive one, though, as he took one out of the park with a home run in Wednesday night’s game for Rochester.

Crews was a big part of LSU’s national title team in 2023, and now he’s just one step away from making his major league debut with the Nationals.

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Follow Tyler to continue the conversation on Twitter: @TylerNettuno

Paul Skenes draws standing ovation from opposing crowd after another lights-out start

Sometimes you just have to hand it to Paul Skenes. Even when you’re cheering for the other team.

[autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] is so good at pitching that sometimes you just have to hand it to him, even if you’re a fan of the other team.

Skenes has made just six starts at the Major League level for the Pirates since the 2023 first-overall pick was called up earlier this season, but he already looks like one of the best pitchers in baseball. He turned in another gem on Tuesday night against the Cardinals, pitching 6.1 shutout innings while striking out eight batters.

While the lack of run support cost Skenes a win as the game was still tied at zero when he exited, the Pirates did ultimately earn a 2-1 victory. And when Skenes came out of the game in the seventh inning, he received a standing ovation.

From the St. Louis Crowd.

That’s something you don’t see every day.

Skenes is off to a red-hot start in The Show, having struck out 46 batters while walking just six in 33.1 innings while posting a season ERA of 2.43. If that trend continues, he could be a shoo-in for Rookie of the Year.

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Paul Skenes impresses in start against the Dodgers

The Pirates are relying on Paul Skenes and Jared Jones to be the future of their organization.

[autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] made his fifth start of the season recently against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team with the fifth-best record in the MLB. That meant that Skenes would go head-to-head with the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts.

In his first showdown against Ohtani, Skenes struck him out on three straight fastballs that were 100 MPH. The second time, Ohtani got revenge with a two-run homer, and the final matchup led to a single from Ohtani.

Skenes finished the game after pitching five full innings and giving up three runs on six hits, eight strikeouts, and a walk. He was in line for a win and he got it as the Pirates won the game 10-6. Skenes is now 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA in five starts as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates are relying on Skenes and Jared Jones to be the future of their organization.

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Tre Morgan making the most of his opportunity in Bowling Green as a minor leaguer

Tre Morgan was named the Rays Minor League Player of the month for May due to his play. 

Former LSU baseball star [autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag] was recently called up to the Tampa Bay Rays’ High-A affiliate the Bowling Green Hot Rods. He only spent 26 games at the Rays Low-A affiliate before his play elevated him to another level.

Since making it to Bowling Green, Morgan has played in 11 games and has gone 19-for-42 (.452) with nine doubles, two home runs, 12 RBIs, eight walks, just one strikeout — yes, one, in 52 plate appearances — and a 1.359 OPS. He was even named the Rays Minor League Player of the Month for May due to his play.

Morgan was a star as a first baseman for the LSU Tigers on the national championship team last season. He has spent his time as a first baseman and as an outfielder while in the minor leagues. Here is what the director of player development had to say about him.

“He’s been outstanding,” Rays senior director of player development Blake Butera said. “Doesn’t strike out. All over the barrel. Gives you tremendous at-bats. Comes to play every day. He’s done a nice job at first base and also outfield.”

If Tre keeps playing how he is now, he could find himself playing for the Montgomery Biscuits sooner than later.

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