Skenes or Crews? LSU star favored to go No. 1 in MLB Draft

Fresh off its seventh national championship, the LSU baseball program looks set to add a No. 1 pick to its resume.

The 2023 MLB Draft is just four days away, and oddsmakers are starting to paint a clearer picture as to which players will be drafted at the top.

The Tigers expect one of their two superstars' names — outfielder Dylan Crews or pitcher Paul Skenes — to be called first by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Mock drafts seemingly have had the teammates as the top two prospects for months, and their performances at the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, only confirmed these beliefs.

Odds in the market have Skenes (+105) as the favorite to go No. 1 overall on Sunday with Crews (+205) with the second-shortest odds. These lines have shifted a bit since Tuesday when Skenes had -165 odds to become the first name off the board and Crews was +180 to be taken by the Pirates.

Max Clark, a top Indiana high school prospect out of Franklin Community High School, has the next-best odds at +400. Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford (+650) is the only other player with better than 50-to-1 odds to be selected first. Both Clark and Langford's odds are dropping, as they were +650 and +800, respectively, on Tuesday.

Clearly, it's still up in the air what the Pirates are going to do with the first overall pick, but if odds are anything to go by, they seem prepared to make the College World Series' Most Outstanding Player their selection.

Rounding out the top five are the Washington Nationals, Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins. It's hard to imagine either of LSU's superstars falling beyond the Tigers' pick, regardless of who goes No. 1.

The 2023 MLB Draft starts at 6 p.m. Sunday. The first round will air live on ESPN, with the entirety of the first day on MLB Network.