Paul Skenes has been the talk of the baseball world, lighting up the mound with the kind of dominance that leaves hitters shaking their heads. We all know him as the flamethrower who took LSU by storm and swiftly ascended into the national spotlight. But what many might not know is that before he was scorching the baseball diamond, Skenes was on a completely different trajectory. It was one that had him soaring toward the clouds, not striking out batters.
With the allure to serve country, Skenes was once on the path to become a full-fledged U.S. Air Force pilot, training for a life in the sky before trading flight suits for pinstripes. Yes, the man who now makes hitters whiff once flirted with a future that involved flight decks, not fastballs. However, he chose the roar of the crowd over the roar of jet engines—a decision he explained with a hilariously down-to-earth reason that perfectly captures his personality.
“I actually got in the backseat of an F16, my freshman year of college. They’re small and I’m this size. So, they got the seat all the way down, and I’m hit. I am actually hitting my head on the top of it,” Skenes revealed in an episode of Intentional Talk with Ryan Dempster and Kevin Millar.
Paul Skenes transferred from Air Force to LSU because he couldn’t fit into a fighter jet anymore? @Pirates | @Dempster46 | @KMillar15 pic.twitter.com/d2gw3TnDF9
— Intentional Talk (@IntentionalTalk) August 5, 2025
So, at 1.98 meters tall, Skenes probably wouldn’t be too comfortable in a fighter jet cockpit. But that’s not why the Air Force Academy Falcons fast-tracked him to LSU. His move had a much simpler reason: transferring gave him the chance to chase professional baseball right away. If he had stayed there, he likely would’ve had to serve his military commitment after graduating, which would’ve delayed any MLB dreams. And the only way around that was to leave before his junior year.
Here’s the kicker: Skenes wasn’t just a pitcher at Air Force. He was a true two-way weapon, firing 100 mph fastballs and racking up an impressive 2.73 ERA while also earning the 2022 John Olerud Award as the best two-way player in college baseball. That dominance is what propelled him from the Academy to LSU, and eventually to the doorstep of MLB.
Funny enough, going pro wasn’t even on Skenes’ radar before joining the Air Force. But as he blossomed into a two-way star, dominating both on the mound and at the plate, the possibility became real. After one brilliant season at LSU, that dream is about to come true.
Paul Skenes brought a new wave of fireballs to the Air Force Academy
Initially, everything was clicking for Skenes as a catcher and hitter at the Air Force Academy. But he had another idea: why not give pitching a shot, too? He was so good at the plate that coaches even considered batting him leadoff just to get him more swings. However, Skenes’ journey was set to take off from here!
With the Falcons, fall practices were pretty loose, mostly guys taking hacks off the pitching machine. Whenever Skenes stepped in, he launched towering home runs that left his teammates shaking their heads at the way the ball just jumped off his bat. But when he mentioned he wanted to pitch, most of them just shrugged.
Image: MLB.com
But by then, Skenes already carried this calm and stoic presence. So the idea that their best catcher might also be a pitcher sounded crazy… yet somehow believable. And then came the moment that changed everything. During an intrasquad game, Skenes finally climbed the mound. His very first pitch popped the catcher’s glove at 94 mph. And about 60 pairs of eyebrows shot up. Suddenly, no one was laughing. By the time the 2021 season rolled around, the coaches had settled on a solution that was as ridiculous as it was perfect. Skenes would be the team’s everyday catcher and closer.
So yes, we missed getting another player to compare with Shohei Ohtani, but instead, we might be witnessing one of the best pitchers in MLB today.
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