Pirates' Paul Skenes faces girlfriend and former LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne in bullpen session

Paul Skenes and Livvy Dunne are one of MLB's most well-known couples. The Pittsburgh Pirates ace and former Louisiana State University gymnast and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model first met in college. 

While Skenes prepares for spring training, Dunne decided to help out with his training and step into the batter's box. The right-hander averaged 98.1 mph on his fastball in 2025, and it seemed to spook Dunne, despite her unwavering trust in Skenes. 

In a video clip posted to her Instagram story, Dunne stood in for live at-bats while Skenes fired fastballs. 

"Pure fright," she captioned the story. 

Skenes searching for back-to-back Cy Young Awards 

The good news for Dunne is that she never has to face Skenes' fastball again, if she so chooses. Twenty-nine Major League organizations must figure out a way to hit the former first overall pick. 

That's certainly not going to be an easy task moving forward, as Skenes should only improve over time. He was the unanimous winner of the 2025 NL Cy Young Award, receiving all 30 first-place votes after posting a minuscule 1.97 ERA while allowing an MLB low 0.5 home runs per nine innings. 

His 10-10 record should improve during the upcoming season with what should be a better offensive output from the Pirates' lineup. 

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