Ball Up Top: Paul Skenes Thinks Livvy Dunne Gets Tired Of Going On Vacation With Him Because He's Always Training In The Morning Wherever They Are

Lucas Casel. Getty Images.

How do you become a great professional athlete? Is it all just god-given talent? Take baseball for example. Were people simply put on this Earth to throw a 99 mph fastball on the black followed by a brain-melting backdoor slider? Say you put in the work to get to the show, how do you keep yourself motivated to push your body and mind the same way you did in high school? It sounds easier than it actually is. 

Like if I put you in Paul Skenes' body, in his life right now, are you maintaining everything he's built to this point? Now let me throw in Livvy Dunne as your girlfriend. Are you really going to balance it all perfectly and keep your eye on the prize? Maybe it's more feasible to do that during the regular season because you're surrounded by your team and kept on a schedule by your trainers and coaches, but in the offseason when you're traveling across the world to all of these exotic places with one of the most beautiful women on Earth, are you really gonna stay disciplined to the work? 

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I'll answer for you —fuck no. But that's because you're not Paul Skenes. This man is dedicated to his craft to a level we've never seen before. He's passing on mornings with Livvy on vacation to go train for the season, regardless of where they are in the world. It's a six-day regiment no matter what to keep that arm and body in perfect condition for the upcoming season. Even if they're in the Maldives, we'll see ya later Livvy, I gotta go throw a bullpen. 

(Post Gazette) “I think Liv probably gets tired of traveling with me,” Skenes said. “We might spend four days somewhere, but it’s really two because half of each day — the morning — is for me to train. We don’t get mornings. She can do whatever she needs to do in the morning. But we do not get mornings.” 

Even in the offseason, Skenes works through a six-day routine, the same as if he were starting for the Pirates: high-intensity bullpen with multiple innings, a day off, light throwing and lifting, a bullpen and another lift, then catch play, a primer lift and into another “game.”

This is how you begin your career just about better than any other pitcher in the history of baseball. I'm sure people will call Skenes a hardo, but when these are the results, who gives a fuck what anyone else says. 

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It's ball up top, above everything else. I need this man in pinstripes more than anything.