ARLINGTON, Texas – Paul Skenes walked onto the Globe Life Field mound, 66 days after his major league debut, 13 months after he was pitching in college. The public-address system played Smash Mouth’s “All Star,” and he really was one.
“I don’t think I blacked out when I was out there, but I was pretty close,” he said.
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Skenes had became the fifth rookie to start an All-Star Game, retiring Steven Kwan, Gunnar Henderson and Aaron Judge in a hitless first inning of the National League's 5-3 loss on Tuesday night. Baseball's best watched as the 6-foot-6 wonder threw at up to 100.1 mph.
“The coolest part about it is they’re so accepting and welcomed me with open arms into the clubhouse,” he beamed.
Unlike some veterans who depart midgame, Skenes stayed in the dugout for a few innings to soak up their knowledge, then retreated to the clubhouse for more teammate talk and a little nibble.
A few minutes after the final out, he walked into the postgame interview room wearing a custom-made white suit from the Pittsburgh tailor David Alan. He felt slightly disheveled, with his white shirt partially unbuttoned.
“I look like Colonel Sanders,” he said.
Skene's girlfriend, gymnast/influencer Livvy Dunne, had given him a cream Dior necktie he wore to Monday's news conference after she skipped his start in Milwaukee last week and went shopping in Chicago. The way he's pitching, he's going to be looked at as a tastemaker. That's quite a transition from two years ago, when he was a U.S. Air Force Academy cadet, or even last year, when he led LSU to the NCAA title.
A 22-year-old right-hander with just 11 big league appearances, the fewest for an All-Star, Skenes took the mound wearing high socks with horizontal bands of yellow, light blue, maroon and navy.
He retired Kwan, the major league batting leader, on a popup and induced a weak comeback from Henderson.
Juan Soto worked out a seven-pitch walk after fouling off a 100.1 mph offering.
“I was trying to take him deep. Not going to lie,” Soto said with a grin during a joint interview with Judge. "But definitely after two strikes I was trying to work that at-bat because I wanted to make sure he faced him, too. I got my job done.”
Judge grounded into an inning-ending forceout on the next pitch, a 99.7 mph four-seamer.
“He was really looking at me after he fouled that heater off,” Judge said of Soto. “He wanted that pitch back, that’s for sure.”
Skenes joined Dave Stenhouse (1962), Mark Fidrych (1976), Fernando Valenzuela (1981) and Hideo Nomo (1995) as the only rookie All-Star starters. He threw 11 of 16 pitches for strikes, starting in the zone with all four batters. He mixed seven fastballs and seven splinkers with one curveball and one slider.
He treasured his time up close with Shohei Ohtani, who put the NL ahead with a three-run homer in the third off Tanner Houck. Ohtani had homered off Skenes last month.
“I tried to enjoy the three hours or so that I had on the same team with him because that’s probably only going to happen once a year,” Skenes said. “A guy like him, I'm sure everybody is probably going up to him so I kind of tried to stay out of his way. Talked to him about a couple different things and, yeah, watched him. I was in the weight room when he was in the weight room and just tried to watch him kind of do his thing and learn from that."
Skenes also tried to tap into Chris Sale, Tyler Glasnow, Logan Webb and Hunter Greene
“Even if I get one tiny piece of advice or something that can — one tiny nugget from them, it could help,” he said.
Last year's No. 1 pick in the amateur draft, Skenes made his big league debut on May 11 and is 6-0 with a 1.90 ERA for the Pirates, striking out 89 and walking 13 in 66 1/3 innings.
He had hoped to have more time on the mound in front of a national audience.
"Frankly, I wish I had a few more pitches," Skenes said.
He no longer perceived himself an outsider looking in at the greats. That was the greatest transformation.
“I feel like I’m one of them,” he said.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb