There aren't many scarier sights than a Paul Skenes fastball barreling toward the hands. It's electric, a lotus that dwindles through the strike zone in the blink of an eye. And it is terrifying — hurdling in the atmosphere with velocity in the triple digits.
The architect of such chaos looks on in delight. He's long, but not gangly. His towering frame is matched by the sturdiness in his foundation, a finely tuned instrument designed to break batters' hearts. And their bats.
The LSU ace is certain to be one of the MLB Draft's first picks this year. One look at his abominable figure and you can see why; Skenes is cut from the same cloth as the likes of C.C. Sabathia, Roy Halladay and countless others who came before him, a fearsome presence capable of raising tickers just by stepping to the mound.
All of that has proved so alluring to MLB scouts. The league is always pining for big bodies capable of handling the wear and tear of 200-plus innings a season. Skenes, with his lively arm and clandestine slider, fits the description perfectly. And that's before considering his two-way potential — Skenes has power to all fields and projects as an average-to-above-average defender at first base.
MOCK DRAFT: Which MLB team will pick Paul Skenes?
We know Skenes is big. But just how big is LSU's power pitcher extraordinaire? The Sporting News tells you what you need to know about baseball's latest lumbering unicorn.
How tall is Paul Skenes?
At a height of 6-foot-6, Skenes stands head and shoulders above his colleagues. He's one inch shorter than Oneil Cruz and Aaron Judge and two inches shorter than Tyler Glasnow, players considered to be titans in the baseball world. He's also far bigger than his fellow draftees; Skenes is the tallest player ranked in MLB Pipeline's projected Top-20 prospect rankings ahead of this year's draft.
The average MLB pitcher stands at 6-2 3/4, per Horton Baseball. The average MLB position player is about an inch shorter. Skenes sits firmly above both averages, sporting the sort of eye-catching figure that is sure to make front offices salivate.
Paul Skenes weight
Skenes isn't one of those gangly hopefuls who is all skin and bone. Anything but, in fact. Weighing in at 250 pounds, Skenes has the sort of build that fills out stadiums. He's powerful, firing pitches into the catcher's glove with terrifying accuracy. His delivery is beautiful chaos, accentuated with a fiery leg kick.
That ferocity is also evident when he beckons glances at the plate. His swing is compact. But it's still dangerous, filled with torque and explosiveness and an impulsive sort of brilliance that can carry pitches out the yard. It's no surprise why teams are so high on the Air Force transfer.
MORE: Paul Skenes' transfer from Air Force to LSU, explained
Paul Skenes shoe size
Per a dugout interview with ESPN's Karl Ravech, Skenes wears a size 15 shoe. That's two sizes smaller than Judge. However, that's around the same size as 6-8 basketball wizard LeBron James. So, Skenes is certainly in elite company.
