Why the Algorithm Loves Gen Z’s ‘It Couple’ Livvy Dunne and Paul Skenes

Paul, not exactly an extrovert, gets practically chatty when we start talking ball, unspooling paragraphs about the difference between minor- and major-league hitters, expanding the zone, and learning to deal with the length of the pro season. “It’s like casinos and insurance companies,” he says at one point, animatedly explaining the value of putting the ball in the strike zone. Livvy cracks up, surprised at his loquaciousness, and interrupts him: “You lost me.” Paul, a little bashful, tries to explain. “Casinos and insurance companies make a lot of money on playing the odds. We”—meaning pitchers—“need to do the same thing.”

Pirates fans were thrilled at how quickly their new ace was advancing—and so was his girlfriend. “I’m actually very happy he flew through the minor leagues,” Livvy says. “Because some of those places were brutal.” (Let the record reflect that Paul Skenes here described Altoona as “beautiful.” Smart kid.)

When Paul hit the bigs, Livvy quickly settled into a new identity as perhaps baseball’s highest-profile superfan. She was mic’d up for the TV broadcast when Paul earned the start at the All-Star Game (practically unheard of for a rookie), catching one of her superstitions on tape: “Before every pitch I have to yell, ‘Let’s go, Paul,’ ” she explains. At home, she and their dog, an “English cream” golden retriever named Roux, load up the MLB app to watch his starts.

Before his debut, she gave him a black Gucci tie to wear to the ballpark. It’s now reserved, he says, “for special events.” He wore it to the All-Star Game, he explains, but is otherwise saving it “for the postseason”—his next goal being to return the scuffling Pirates (76-86 last season) to the playoffs, a promised land they haven’t reached for a decade.

That’s the aim in part, because, having put together one of the most dominant rookie campaigns in baseball history (170 strikeouts across 23 starts; third in NL Cy Young Award voting), individual achievements might be hard to summit next season. “I came out of the last game in New York, and I went up to our game-planning coach, and I was like, ‘I just made it hard on myself,’ ” he remembers. “He’s like, ‘What are you talking about?’ And I’m like, ‘I’ve got to top that next year.’ ”

Still, it’s good work if you can get it. Paul met Tracy Morgan the other night, he tells me—the comedian was at the dinner where he picked up his Rookie of the Year award. “He said, ‘I thought life couldn’t get any better than working at Yankee Stadium. Then I became a movie star and it got a lot better,’ ” Paul paraphrases. Swap movie star for generational ace, and you’re getting somewhere.