Paul Skenes explains strikeout donations to Gary Sinise Foundation, Pat McAfee offers $1 million if he hits 21 in a game

Pittsburgh Pirates rookie pitcher Paul Skenes is giving back during his rookie season of Major League Baseball.

Skenes is donating $100 per strikeout to the Gary Sinise Foundation. The foundation says its mission is to “serve our nation by honoring our defenders, veterans, first responders, their families, and those in need.”

Pat McAfee had Paul Skenes on his show on Tuesday and agreed to match the $100 per strikeout donation. He added that if Skenes breaks the record for strikeouts in an MLB game by throwing 21, he will donate $1 million to the foundation.

“The current record for a nine-inning game is 20 strikeouts. If you get to 21, we’ll donate a million,” McAfee said on The Pat McAfee Show.

Skenes had seven strikeouts in only four innings in his opening start. It will obviously be difficult to break the strikeouts record, but either way, Skenes and McAfee should be donating a good bit of money to the Gary Sinise Foundation.

The former LSU star shared with McAfee why he chose to work with that organization.

“I worked with Folds of Honor last year at LSU, kind of doing a similar thing. It was $10 per strikeout then, but I was at the Air Force Academy for two years and that had a profound impact on my life that continues now,” Paul Skenes said. “I’m going to miss those guys. … The people that you’re going to meet there, the people that I met and everything I’ve gained from there is just unbelievable. Obviously I’m not there anymore but just trying to find ways to give back to a community that has done so much for me.”

Paul Skenes calls his MLB debut with Pirates an ‘interesting outing’

On Saturday, Paul Skenes, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, made his debut on the mound for the Pittsburgh Pirates. During an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday, Skenes weighed in on the difference between pitching against minor league and major league batters.

“I don’t want to call that outing a wash, but like it’s such a different and like interesting outing just because there’s so much other stuff going on there,” Skenes said. “It’s a little bit hard to kind of drown it all out. A major league debut is is a major league debut. So, I don’t know exactly.

“The hitters are definitely better. You have to be finer for sure, in terms of how you attack them and that kind of thing, but I don’t know. You’ll probably have to give me a couple more outings for me to give you a definitive answer on that.”