ESPN draft analyst Kiley McDaniel reveals Paul Skenes' chances at being taken with No. 1 overall pick

MLB Opening Day has the attention of most of the baseball world but Baton Rouge might be home to the day’s best pitching matchup. LSU‘s Paul Skenes is going up against Chase Dollander of Tennessee, as the two are considered top draft prospects this summer. They will battle all season to have the chance to go No. 1 overall this summer to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Skenes spent his first two college seasons at Air Force, where he was still a solid prospect. But as ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel explained, Skenes has taken off to a new level since arriving at LSU. Adding a slider to the repertoire has elevated him to an elite college pitcher.

“As recently as this summer, Paul Skenes was seen as a second or third-round prospect as a pitcher,” McDaniel said. “Once he transferred to LSU, Skenes learned a new plus-plus slider that is one of the best pitches in college baseball. His velocity spiked to the upper 90s and regularly in triple digits.”

Thursday night is Skenes’ seventh appearance of the season and second against an SEC opponent. Nobody has been able to get more than one run on him. All six previous outings have seen double-digit strikeouts as well, having a season-high 13 against Butler on March 3.

Paul Skenes edges out Chase Dollander as top pitcher

The MLB Draft process is still in its early days. High school baseball is just getting underway as teams begin to evaluate prospects from across the country. But the only pitcher who is expected to compete with Skenes for the top spot is Dollander.

While McDaniel called it a “toss-up” at the moment, he believes Skenes would be selected before the Tennessee product if the draft was today. Pittsburgh has the top-overall pick and if they pass on Skenes, somebody else will happily take him within the top five.

“He’s now seen as a toss-up with Tennessee’s Chase Dollander as the No. 1 pitcher in this year’s draft class,” McDaniel said. “If the draft was today, I believe Skenes would go in the first five picks and be the top pitcher off the board.”

Both Dollander and Skenes have a full SEC schedule ahead of them, most likely pitching on Friday nights. However, this is a special opportunity for the duo to face off against each other, head-to-head. Plenty of MLB scouts will be in attendance at the Box, hoping to find their ace of the future in the upcoming draft.