You and everybody thought Skenes was going to add 5 mph to his fastball in one offseason and be able to hit triple digits with it 40+ times in one outing? I don’t think anyone saw that type of improvement coming.
He had 96 strikeouts in 85 innings in a 1 bid conference whose best team UNLV finished 111 in the RPI. The two best teams he faced were Texas and Iowa. In those 2 starts he went 7.1 IP, 14 hits, 10 runs (8 earned), 2 walks, and 12 strikeouts. Good for a 9.82 ERA.
I know he was playing both ways but to be as dominant as he has been coupled with the jump in competition, no one saw coming.
LSU did with Skenes what you do with anybody, which is bet on their upside, he wasn’t a sure thing. Burns had an average Sophomore year that followed him being a 1st team Freshman All American and 3rd team All American in 2022.
Just saying people always evaluate with hindsight.