ARLINGTON, TEXAS—The MLB All-Star game changed its rules a few years ago, to make it easier for two-way players to showcase all of their skills.
The rule was made to accommodate Shohei Ohtani, who pitched and hit in that game. However, Pittsburgh Pirates rookie Paul Skenes saw a way to take advantage of it.
“I’ve gotten a couple bats over the last couple days,” Skenes said, “and they sent a couple batting gloves too. I’m itching to use them.”
Skenes getting a couple of swings in during the All Star Game is not outside the realm of possibility. He won the John Olerud Award as the best two-way player in college baseball while he was a star pitcher and catcher at the Air Force Academy.
Then he transferred to LSU, and a funny thing happened on the way to the national championship.
They stopped putting me in BP (batting practice) groups,” he said. “Yeah, I don’t know. I went to LSU, and I stopped catching, but I was hitting still. And I wanted to keep hitting as long as I could, but the upside on the mound, I think, was a lot better than the upside hitting.”
So, after hitting 24 home runs and turning in an OPS of 1.121 in 100 games, Skenes hasn’t batted since.
And the All-Star Game wasn’t going to break that streak.
“(Prates GM) Ben Cherington and Shelty (Pirates manager Derek Shelton), that ain’t gonna happen,” said Torey Lovullo, the manager of the National League All-Star team. “I promise.”
Okay, anti-fun police, fine. Maybe we could just see Skenes for a couple of innings, instead of the one inning that has become the tradition, as teams want to limit the amount of wear on their star pitchers’ arms during the All-Star exhibition.
After all, Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was scheduled to bat fourth in the American League lineup. If Skenes got a quick one-two-three inning, maybe he could come back out for a power-versus-power showdown.
“Yeah, that would be cool,” said Skenes.
“I would love to,” said Lovullo. “I’d love to watch him for two. Actually, I’d love to tire him out enough so he can’t make one of his next starts, because it will be against the Diamondbacks (the team Lovullo manages). I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
It’s natural to speculate on just what Skenes might do, because he’s already done more than anyone could have reasonably expected.
The All-Star Game is played two days after the MLB Draft, which takes place in the same city that hosts the game. Last year, that was Seattle, and Skenes was drafted first overall. Now, just barely a year later, he will be at center stage, starting the All-Star Game for the National League. (Note: The game was played Tuesday night, after our press deadline.)
He’s just the fifth rookie to start the game and the first since 1995. He’s the first No. 1 draft pick to start the game as a rookie. In a 368-day span, Skenes has gone from being the top college player to perhaps the best pitcher on the planet and a rapidly-rising star who could end up being the face of baseball.
Skenes skyrocketed through the minors allowing just over two runs per nine innings and fewer than a baserunner an inning while jumping from rookie ball to Triple-A in a matter of months.
Since getting promoted to the Pirates in early May, he’s been even better. He’s allowing 1.90 runs per nine (0.22 better than his minor league numbers) and 0.920 baserunners an inning (0.021 better), while striking out 12.1 batters per nine innings. He also has yet to lose a game as a professional, sporting a 6-0 record.
He put an exclamation point on his case be the All-Star starter in his last game before the break, pitching seven no-hit innings against the first-place Brewers and striking out 11 before being removed from the game by an overly cautious manager.
It did cause his All-Star manager to throw caution to the wind on at least one front. Traditionally, the All-Star starting pitchers are named at a Monday press conference, the day before the game. Instead, last week, Lovullo called Dan Patrick’s nationally syndicated radio show, interrupting an interview with Skenes to break the news that the gig was his.
“As I watched him throw seven no-hit innings, it became something I couldn’t wait to tell the world,” Lovullo said.
Skenes has remained humble amidst the hype. When asked if he was baseball’s version of the NBA’s Victor Wembanyana, he said, “I don’t know that I agree or disagree with that. I don’t watch the NBA at all. I know who he is, but I don’t know a whole lot about him.
A generational talent.
“It’s an honor, but I’m 11 starts in. And here we are now. Hopefully, there’s a lot more time that I can play this game.”
Still, he’s got a couple of brand new bats. He’s got some batting gloves. And the world will be watching him on Tuesday night.
“There’s no batting helmet in my locker,” Skenes said. “So that’s not happening.”
Maybe next year.