The Pittsburgh Pirates took LSU pitching phenom Paul Skenes with the first pick of the MLB Draft. That’s step one.

Step two is to not screw it up.

Don’t keep Skenes in the minors till June next season by way of manipulating an extra year of team control via Super Two. He should start the 2024 campaign with the Pirates.

Don’t overload Skenes’ head with adjustments and change. Skenes is MLB ready. Let him do what he’s been doing. (Thank God the Pirates’ “pitch to contact” era is over. Don’t neutralize Skenes’ 103 mph fastball.)

If I had my way, no Pirates coach would talk to Skenes until a few minutes before Skenes’ first big-league start. If then. If ever.

Oscar Marin is the Pirates pitching coach. He never got past college ball and didn’t do nearly as well as Skenes. Marin should be an “attaboy” coach: “Attaboy, Paul.”

Ex-Pirate John Wehner, now a radio/TV analyst, says Skenes could use 10 starts in Triple-A. That’s ludicrous. Whatever Skenes needed to learn, he already has.

Shut Skenes down till the Arizona Fall League. Have him pitch a bit there. Let him first recover from throwing 122 2/3 intense innings with LSU.

After that, have Skenes start the second home game of next season.

Have Mitch Keller start the first. That way you get two straight sellouts.

Skenes is a unicorn. He might wind up being the Pirates’ best pitcher ever. Every game Skenes starts will be an event, especially if he comes out of the gate hot. He will sell tickets and merchandise. He will rack up strikeouts and sellouts.

Skenes might even help the Pirates have the occasional winning season. If the Pirates ever make the playoffs, he’s exactly the kind of postseason pitcher that’s needed. With Keller and Skenes at the top of the rotation, the Pirates could rise.

Skenes not only makes the Pirates much better, he serves owner Bob Nutting’s “greed is good” philosophy. He will draw money.

Skenes will get a signing bonus of $9 million-plus but will pay that back in no time.

If the Pirates don’t screw him up. They have rarely had a situation this foolproof. But history shows that the Pirates are just the fools to prove it.

Sure, Skenes could have arm trouble. That can happen to any pitcher, not least high-velocity types like Skenes.

But that wouldn’t make picking Skenes a bad decision. At long last, the Pirates did something for right now, not a future that never arrives.

The only way for a low-budget team to get an ace is through the draft. The Pirates did.

At 41-49, the current season is lost. Everything the Pirates do the rest of this year should gear up for next year.

Should Derek Shelton continue as manager? He needs to show that. He rarely does. But what manager of pedigree would want that job?

If there’s any possibility Henry Davis will catch, he needs to start doing that. If he’s seen strictly as a right fielder, he should play there every day. Call up Endy Rodriguez and get his time at catcher started.

When shortstop Oneil Cruz comes back from injury, play Nick Gonzales at second base every day. Get your long-term infield sorted.

If the Pirates legit feel they can contend for a playoff spot next year, don’t trade David Bednar. He’s an elite closer, and the Pirates have control of him for three more seasons.

If the Pirates are ever going to be more than enhancement talent, it’s with Skenes and Keller at the top of the rotation. That might only be for the next two seasons.

Don’t screw this up.

The Pirates will. I have zero faith.

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