KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Potential MLB Draft first-overall pick and LSU pitching star Paul Skenes has been training at 108 Performance, now based in Knoxville, since 2017. Founder and Director of Player Development Eugene Bleecker said that even before Skenes had the physical tools to be great, he had the work ethic.
"At the time he was 6'1" or 6'2", he probably only weighed 130 pounds," Bleecker said. "That kid showed up, dirty uniform after games, five days a week, sometimes six. His freshman year of high school he put on 57 pounds, then all of a sudden sophomore year he's a totally different kid."
Bleecker founded 108 Performance in California before relocating to Knoxville in 2021. Skenes came to the Knoxville facility this past winter to work on his game ahead of his first season at LSU. Bleecker recalls the time Skenes decided to take pitching more seriously.
"His junior year of high school, he came up to me one day and wanted to start working on the pitching. We got him on the mound that day, he was 82-84. We tested out some different arm slots and angles and got to work. A year later, he was 92-94 touching 95."
Skenes committed to Air Force as a catcher and also pitched for the Falcons as a reliever his freshman year. It was the perfect way for Skenes to pursue two of his greatest passions in life.
"There were two things that Paul Skenes always wanted to do, and they were fly jets and play baseball. He saw the flying jets thing as a reality he could accomplish because it was all based on how he did things," Bleecker said. "When it came to playing baseball, that seemed like a larger task, because there are only so many jobs in the world."
As a sophomore, he blossomed as a starter and continued to hit at a high level. In two seasons with Air Force, Skenes earned multiple First-Team All-America nods, but as his pro outlook increased, he had to consider his future at the academy.
"When you go to a military school, if you stay there those three years and make that commitment your third year, you have to serve no matter what," Bleecker said.
Skenes elected to transfer to LSU for his junior season as a way to prioritize professional baseball. Even as a newcomer with the Tigers, he quickly became a leader in the locker room just like he had been at Air Force.
"You go from a mid-major to a top-25, top-five Division I school, and all of a sudden [that was his] team too," Bleecker said. "Everybody is following you because you outwork everyone everywhere you go, just by being who you are."
Who Skenes has become in baseball is also a prime reason he might be able to make the jump to MLB much faster than most.
"Paul can kind of pitch around the clock and he can do a lot of different things and has a lot of different weapons, and as a result that makes him a guy that you can slot into a big-league rotation right now and he's going to be able to do really well, better than a lot of current big-leaguers," Bleecker said.
The MLB Draft begins on Sunday, July 9 at 7 p.m. Skenes is projected as a surefire top-two pick, along with LSU teammate and outfielder Dylan Crews.