Pirates select hard-throwing Skenes with top pick of amateur draft

Skenes went 12-3 with 209 strikeouts in 122 innings in helping lead the Tigers to the College World Series championship. The pick was announced by Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., the top pick of the 1987 draft by the Seattle Mariners.

“A lot of work and a lot of surrounding myself with the right people and doing the right things for a long period of time,” Skenes said.

Skenes was the first college pitcher selected No. 1 overall since Casey Mize by Detroit in 2018.

“He had an incredibly special season at LSU. He obviously took another step forward this spring,” Pittsburgh general manager Ben Cherington said. “It’s a really special combination of pitches and just as much about the mix and command than any one pitch.”

For the second time in three years, the Pirates held the top overall selection after picking catcher Henry Davis at the top of the 2021 draft. Davis made his major league debut last month for Pittsburgh.

Skenes’ slot value is expected to be about $9.7 million. Cherington said the hope is an agreement can come quickly and Skenes could pitch somewhere in the Pirates organization in 2023.

“It will have been a little while since he last pitched in the World Series and we want to be sure that whatever that schedule and progression looks (like) makes sense for him,” Cherington said.

It seemed to be a debate between Skenes and Crews for the top pick. It didn’t take long for Crews to come off the board after hitting .426 with 18 home runs while playing center field for the Tigers. Crews had a 26-game hitting streak as part of his standout season for the Tigers and finished his career at LSU by reaching base in each of his final 75 college games.

Crews said he’s never been to Washington, but saw plenty of the Nationals while growing up and watching Bryce Harper.

“Seeing him in a Nationals uniform, it was pretty awesome,” Crews said. “I’m going to play my game and hopefully have as much impact as him. … He’s just a complete player.”

Crews is the first college position player taken by Washington with its first pick since Anthony Rendon in 2011.

“A guy we’ve watched since he was in high school,” Nationals president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo said. “He’s the type of guy that we want here in Washington. He’s a terrific person. He’s got great character. He’s very competitive and he’s a winner.”

Skenes and Crews are the first teammates to go 1-2 in draft history.

“There was no really butting heads over who was going to go 1 or 2,” Crews said.

Detroit selected high school outfielder Max Clark from Franklin, Indiana, at No. 3. Clark was the Gatorade national player of the year after hitting .646 with six homers and 33 RBIs during his high school season.

Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford went No. 4 to Texas, and high school outfielder Walker Jenkins, from Oak Island, North Carolina, went fifth to Minnesota.

Oakland took college shortstop Jacob Wilson, the son of former major league shortstop Jack Wilson, from Grand Canyon at No. 6.

Wake Forest right-hander Rhett Lowder went No. 7 to Cincinnati, Kansas City selected high school catcher Blake Mitchell, from Sinton, Texas, at No. 8, and Colorado picked Tennessee right-hander Chase Dollander.

The top 10 concluded with Miami selecting high school righty Noble Meyer from Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon.

Seattle was the only team with three picks in the first 39 selections after becoming the first team to be awarded an extra promotion incentive pick under the new collective bargaining agreement. That pick was the result of Julio Rodríguez winning AL rookie of the year last season.

The New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers each had their first picks dropped by 10 spots for going more than $40 million over the luxury tax threshold last year. The Mets picked 32nd and Dodgers 36th.