Livvy Dunne turned Paul Skenes's life upside down when she bought a $2m apartment in NYC. Rumors went wild... now the baseball star reveals what's happening behind closed doors

It's a little over 12 hours since Paul Skenes won the Cy Young award, cementing what many believe is the best two-season start to an MLB career ever seen. And surprisingly, the best pitcher in the game is in a Raising Cane's in Florida. 

A towering 6ft, 6 inch 23-year-old with an ice cold stare, Skenes now stands with the world at his feet and the future of baseball in the palm of a right hand that throws a 102mph missile of a fastball. But the Pittsburgh Pirates star, famous away from sports for dating influencer Olivia Dunne, isn't just here for fried chicken, even though he eats 3,500 calories a day for fuel to overpower the game's greats. 

Instead, Skenes's celebrations ended early because he partnered with Cane's for a Veterans Day campaign, raising $500,000 for the Gary Sinise Foundation that cares for vets and first responders.

'If you really think about it, baseball is pretty low on the totem pole in terms of things that matter in this world,' he says. 'The highs and the lows in baseball, is it really adversity? I don't think so. Definitely not to the extent of the men and women who fight for our country.'

More than most, Skenes keeps the cause of veterans close to his heart. Two uncles served in the navy, while he joined the Air Force Academy as a teenager and considers those two years deeply influential in making him who he is today.

'Air Force Academy and the military as a whole is built around a few core concepts and key ideas. One of them is how you do anything is how you do everything,' Skenes tells Daily Mail. For a man who has gone viral before over his seemingly subdued reactions, it's a topic he discusses passionately.

'If you live your life doing things the right way, which is what the academy teaches you and the military, you're going to be set in whatever you're doing.

'I went to the Air Force Academy for a reason. Not anyone can go there, so you start with a pretty high bar of individuals and it's an environment that's made to make everybody better. The two years I spent there, I got better as a person and a baseball player.'

There are three veterans in attendance to mark the donation and Skenes is generous with his time around media obligations. In a particularly endearing moment he vows to take one of the vets to a game next season, the moment he learns he's a Pirates fan.

And make no mistake, Skenes says, he will be in Pittsburgh in 2026. The buildup to his Cy Young award last Wednesday was overshadowed by a bombshell report claiming Skenes not only wants out of the organization but told teammates he wants to play for the New York Yankees.

He shot those rumors down at the first opportunity and admitted to the Mail he was annoyed at the timing of the reports.

'There's a reason Jeff Passan didn't write about, I'll say that,' Skenes said, referencing ESPN's trusted baseball insider. 'Rumors are rumors, I was frustrated for a little bit, but it doesn't really matter. 

'I've had some time to think about it, but I'm glad I had the opportunity to speak to the Pittsburgh media and clear the air over nothing, basically. It is what it is.'

But Skenes must get used to gossip. While he dominates hitters with that four-seam fastball that has registed a stunning 104 strikeouts, and a changeup nobody has an answer to, his Pirates team, as Pat McAfee succinctly put it after welcoming Skenes to his ESPN show last week, puts the 'ass in glass'. For two straight seasons, they've missed the playoff by a mile with a losing 76-86 record.

Those Yankees links will especially take time to cool off given girlfriend Dunne just bought a $2million apartment in Manhattan. The Big Apple will likely become a home from home. 

Skenes pulls no punches over the need for his team to improve next year and says change needs to happen everywhere. He is emboldened by suggestions that the organization, notoriously stingey, are prepared to spend this offseason to match his ambition.

'You start with the what and then move on to the how. So what does that look like? It's making the city better, the team, the franchise and organization, everybody in the organization better and the how is the day-to-day and how you approach it,' he explains.

'I'm in Florida at the moment, I'll see my teammates occasionally and we're always talking, texting and shooting ideas back and forth.'

But he's not, he insists, texting them to say he wants to go to New York.

'I'm not a finished product,' he adds. 'And I won't be for a long time. So I'm just figuring out ways to get better. I've got a lot of time to do that. I've had six weeks to do that, to think, another three or four months to think about it too.'

He was obsessing over his team during an October trip to Italy with Dunne, a time of year where in the future, he needs to playing postseason baseball, fighting for a World Series.

He's been working hard in the gym, too, but that doesn't involve training with his famous girlfriend.

'We're pretty much the exact opposite in terms of build from each other,' he grins. 'So what I do is not at all similar to what she does. We train differently.'

His calorie count is a big part of his power but during the season, he also turns to a secret weapon - honey - between innings for a sugar boost.

'I eat a lot. I eat honey between innings, it's good sugar and it's instant energy,' he says. 'It's not a set thing, I do it when I feel like I need to.'

For Skenes, the success he looks destined for will be sweet. But if it's going to come in Pittsburgh, 2026 has to be a big year for the Pirates.