Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews, LSU’s highly decorated juniors who led the Tigers to the 2023 national championship, became the first teammates ever to be selected with the top two picks in the 59th annual major league baseball draft Sunday night.

Skenes was drafted No. 1 overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates followed by Crews being taken No. 2 by the Washington Nationals.

"It shows we have the right people, that (LSU head) Coach Johnson is doing a good job in bringing the right people into the building," Skenes said of he and Crews making MLB history. "I don't think it's done anytime soon.

"I'm not guaranteeing the national championship every year. But he (Johnson) knows who should be there, how to develop them and he knows how to win. I think LSU baseball is in a really good spot for a long time."

After Skenes and Crews were drafted, two more Tigers were taken on the opening night of the draft that continues with rounds 3-10 starting at 1 p.m. CT Monday and rounds 11-20 on Tuesday .

LSU right-handed pitcher Ty Floyd was selected in the Competitive Balance Round A at No. 38 overall by the Cincinnati Reds. Also, Tigers' right-hander Grant Taylor, who missed this past season with an injury, was selected in the second round No. 51st overall of the MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox.

Also, LSU signee Blake Mitchell, the No. 1 catcher in the country and the No. 8 prospect in the country by Perfect Game, was selected in the first round No. 8 overall by the Kansas City Royals.

Skenes, who transferred to LSU this past season from Air Force, joined former LSU pitcher Ben McDonald as the only Tigers’ ever taken No. 1 in the MLB draft. McDonald also was the Golden Spikes winner in 1989 (as Crews was this season) when the Baltimore Orioles called his name first in the draft.

"Paul was the first player on our board and it was very hard to separate the top of the board," Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said. "He's an incredibly talented, hard-working, disciplined, thoughtful, competitive, curious young man who's 6 foot 6, strong as an ox, can throw the ball really hard and execute pitches.

"We love the talent, the ability and what his future is," Cherington said. "But we're really excited also Paul Skenes the person is a Pirate."

LSU now has 21 first-round draft choices, including nine in the top 10 overall picks starting with Skenes and McDonald.

The others have been Crews to the Nationals and shortstop Alex Bregman to the Houston Astros in 2015 as No. 2 overall picks, pitcher Kevin Gausman No. 4 in 2012 to the Baltimore Orioles, infielder Jacob Berry No. 6 in 2022 to the Florida Marlins, pitcher Aaron Nola No. 7 in 2014 to the Philadelphia Phillies and second baseman Todd Walker No. 6 in 1994 to the Minnesota Twins.

LSU had two players selected in the first round in two previous drafts – second baseman Todd Walker (Minnesota) and shortstop Russ Johnson (Houston) in 1994; and second baseman Mike Fontenot (Baltimore) and outfielder Todd Linden (San Francisco) in 2001.

This season, Skenes led all of college baseball in strikeouts (209), strikeouts per nine innings (15.33), WHIP (0.75) and was tied for No. 1 games started (19), No. 2 in the nation in ERA (1.69), No. 3 in strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.45), No. 5 in hits allowed per nine innings (5.28) and No. 13 walks allowed per inning (1.47).

Besides being a Golden Spikes finalist, he won Dick Howser Trophy for best Division 1 player, was the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Player of the Year, D1 Baseball National Player of the Year, the College World Series Most Outstanding Player, was on the CWS all-tournament team and the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional all-tournament team.

He was named first-team All-American by National College Baseball Writers Association, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and D1 Baseball and was the SEC Pitcher of the Year and an All-SEC first team honoree.

"I think my stuff is big-league ready," Skenes said. "I think there's some stuff that I'm probably going to have to figure out along the way because I haven't been exposed to professional baseball.

"My end goal is to be in the big leagues as long as possible and as soon as possible. I've got to do whatever it takes along the way to accomplish that goal."

Crews was No. 1 in the nation this season in runs scored (100) and walks (71), No. 2 in on-base percentage (.567) and base hits (110), No. 3 in batting average (.426), No. 4 in runs per game (1.41) and No. 8 in total bases (184).

Besides winning the Golden Spikes Award as college baseball's top player, he was the Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger of the Year, SEC Player of the Year, first-team All-American by National College Baseball Writers Association, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and D1 Baseball and on the American Baseball Coaches Association Gold Glove team.

He also was named to the College World Series all-tournament team, NCAA Baton Rouge Regional Most Outstanding Player, NCAA Baton Rouge Regional all-tournament team, All-SEC first team, All-SEC Defensive team.

"Obviously, the atmosphere and everything is going to change," Crews said during a post-draft Zoom media call on his transition to pro baseball. "I've just gotta play my game and everything will just take of itself. I'm just a hard-working guy that loves to play the game and most importantly wants to win.

"I transitioned (from high school) to LSU pretty easy. I feel the transition will be easy as I go and play for the Nationals."

Floyd was 7-0 with a 4.35 ERA in 91 innings, recording 37 walks and 120 Ks. He finished No. 4 in the SEC in strikeouts (120) and No. 5 in the league in opponent batting avg. (.208), and his strikeouts total (120) placed him No. 12 in the nation.

He was voted to the 2023 College World Series all-tournament team, making two starts and recording 27 strikeouts in 13 innings while limiting opponents to five runs on seven hits and a .156 batting average. His career-high 17 strikeouts in eight innings game 1 vs. Florida is the most by an LSU pitcher in a CWS game and tied the CWS record for most strikeouts in a game prior to extra innings.

Taylor didn't pitch this season after sustaining an elbow injury in February. He pitched in 17 games (two starts) as a true freshman in 2022, recording a 4-1 mark and a 5.81 ERA in 31.0 innings with 21 walks and 39 strikeouts.