Paul Skenes Wins the Dick Howser Award for Nation’s Best Player
The LSU Tigers are back in Omaha for the first time since 2017 and it comes as no surprise to a lot of baseball fans as the Tigers came into this season with the most talented roster on paper.
That talent has delivered, leading the Tigers to a 40-plus win season and a big part of that is thanks to the outstanding combo of Dylan Crews and Paul Skenes.
As the widely projected number one and two overall picks, many suspected that LSU could have a player named for both Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year. A Tiger did claim the Dick Howser Award for the nation's best player, but it may not be who many fans suspected.
LSU's ace pitcher, Paul Skenes, has been named the 2023 Dick Howser Award winner for the nation's best player, equivalent to the Heisman in football. Skenes has already racked up accolades this season as he was named the 2023 SEC pitcher of the year and named Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Player of the Year.
Here is Paul’s reaction to winning the award.
Skenes has had one of the most dominant pitching seasons we have seen in a long time in college baseball. He leads the nation with 188 total strikeouts and the closes one to him is Stanford’s Quinn Mathews with 155.
He is also second in the nation in terms of ERA (with a 1.77) as well as the nation's WHIP leader with .78. Fans react to the Skenes bringing home the 2023 Dick Howser Award.
The Tigers will be in action this Saturday against Tennesse for the opening round of the College World Series with Paul Skenes being the likely starter for the Tigers. LSU was able to take two of three from Tennesee in their regular season series this season as Paul Skenes got the start in game one. He struck out 12 hitters and recorded the 5-2 victory for LSU.
Congratulations Paul Skenes and Geaux Tigers!