Former Pitching Coach Ryan Forrest Tells Quite Hilarious Boxing Story About Pirates’ No. 1 Overall Pick

The Skenes family invited Falcons head coach Mike Kazlausky, pitching coach Ryan Forrest, and hitting coach Jimmy Roesinger to their Lake Forest, California home after hearing the first name of their cherished former student who had gone to LSU before this past season.

Former Pitching Coach Ryan Forrest Tells Quite Hilarious Boxing Story About Pirates’ No. 1 Overall Pick

The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Paul Skenes with the first overall choice in the draft. It was revealed that the starting pitcher has a 99 Overall card. Some of the characteristics included breaking at 99 and maximum velocity. He had a high clutch of 113 and a 114 in the hits per nine category.

When Skenes was a freshman and sophomore at Air Force, he was a standout two-way player who helped the team win its first conference championship. This past season, Skenes concentrated only on pitching and won multiple national player of the year accolades while helping the LSU Tigers to a College World Series victory. In 122 2/3 innings, he went 12-2, with a 1.69 ERA, and struck out 209 batters.

Skenes joined the Air Force on purpose and by accident. He was a high school senior when COVID-19 ended his last year of high school, therefore he slipped professional teams’ notice and was not selected in the short 2020 MLB Draft.

He batted.314/.412/.634 with 13 home runs in his senior year at Air Force, but it seems unlikely that he will hit in the major leagues.

Skenes, who is reported as being 6-foot-6 and 247 pounds, possesses generational talent, a spotless resume, and outstanding size.

Coach Forrest spoke candidly with D1 Baseball’s Stephen Schoch about his pitcher’s boxing experience.

“There’s not a lot that Paul is bad at except boxing class,” Forrest said. “Our freshman are required to take boxing during their first year, and I saw him absolutely get his butt beat in the boxing ring to the point where the boxing coach actually called us saying, ‘Hey, we’re worried about this kid, Skenes.’”

Forrest continued to say, “He was so worried about just keeping the gloves up and not getting hit in the face. It was hilarious, actually… It was the first time I think he’s ever experienced failure.”

Well, in Skenes’ defence, one can’t be good at everything. He is a standout in baseball and that clearly reflects in his stats.

 

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