PIRATES

Paul Skenes has been selected to the National League All-Star team for a third straight season and is the lone Pirates representative among the player-and-commissioner-selected reserves and pitchers for the Midsummer Classic, which will be held July 14 in Philadelphia.

"I know he's been in a tough stretch right now, but he certainly deserves it," Don Kelly said. "He's one of the best pitchers in the major leagues and he totally deserves to be on that stage. And there's nobody that really wants to face Paul.”

The National League's starter on the mound the last two years, Skenes admitted he was surprised when Kelly announced him as an All-Star prior to today's game against the Nationals. Skenes has struggled as of late and his overall numbers, including an uncharacteristically high 3.62 ERA, haven't compared to his first two seasons when he was the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award winner in the National League. 

"I think I’ve thrown the ball well, but I don’t think all the numbers necessarily match that, and I think that’s probably how a lot of fans feel, too," said Skenes, who still ranks top 10 among qualified NL pitchers in WHIP (1.01; T-third), strikeouts (119; fourth) and batting average against (.211; seventh). "I was shocked that I was the only one, so not too happy about that.”

Despite being named to the roster, it's very possible that Skenes is unavailable to actually pitch in the All-Star Game. He is scheduled to make two starts prior to the All-Star break, including the team's final game of the first half on July 12. Both Kelly and Skenes expect that he'll make that scheduled start against the Brewers, and Skenes hopes that would open up a spot for Braxton Ashcraft to take. 

In his first full major-league season, Ashcraft has put up numbers worthy of All-Star consideration. His 3.24 ERA is the 11th-best among National League pitchers and his 1.10 WHIP is No. 10. He's also thrown the third-most innings (108 1/3) of any NL pitcher, striking out the third-most batters (122) and walking 25. Skenes and Ashcraft are only the second pair of Pirates to have at least 115 strikeouts prior to the All-Star break in the same season (the first All-Star Game was held in 1933), joining Francisco Liriano (125) and Gerrit Cole (116) in 2015. 

"You’ve seen it all year and we saw it last year, too, and last year was a smaller sample size," Skenes said. "He’s one of the best pitchers in the game, and I don’t really think you can argue that. All the numbers say that, too. Obviously he’s having a good year and recognition and getting to go to the All-Star Game is not the end-all, be-all by any means, but he deserves it, and he’s not the only one.”

With the amount of players who forego playing in the All-Star Game each year due to injury or rest, it's possible that the Pirates could still have other representatives, including Ashcraft, Brandon Lowe or Bryan Reynolds. If a player-elected reserve position player must be replaced, the next in line on the player ballot becomes a reserve, unless the leaders of the player ballot have already been accounted for.

Lowe (.242 / 20 HR / 60 RBIs) and Reynolds (.284 / 12 HR / 55 RBIs) have helped lead a Pirates offense that has scored the third-most runs of any team in Major League Baseball this season. They're only the ninth pair of Pirates to have at least 55 RBIs prior to the All-Star break in the same season, joining Willie Stargell (63) and Roberto Clemente (56) in 1966, Stargell (68) and Al Oliver (60) in 1972, Stargell (75) and Oliver (61) in 1973, Andy Van Slyke (61) and Bobby Bonilla (59) in 1988, Barry Bonds (62) and Bonilla (61) in 1990, Brian Giles (72) and Kevin Young (56) in 2000, Aramis Ramirez (59) and Giles (55) in 2001 and Nate McLouth (65) and Xavier Nady (56) in 2008.

Lowe is just the second Pirates second baseman in franchise history to hit 20-plus homers in a season, joining Neil Walker with 23 in 2014, and Reynolds' resumé includes a career-best 34-game on-base streak from May 23 to June 29 and a .395 on-base percentage that ranks as the seventh-best among all players in Major League Baseball.

"When you're talking about one of the top offenses in baseball, to not have an offensive representative, that's tough," Kelly said. "And then from the pitching side, I think Ashcraft has done a fantastic job and deserves it. Reynolds, Lowe come top of mind. (Ryan) O'Hearn has had a good year. I think Spencer (Horwitz), before he got hurt, and (Oneil) Cruz, too. With those two guys being down, I thought that they've had great years. Hard to say that, with them being injured, that they should be on the team, but I think that they've had great years so far, and have been a big part of the offense being as good as it is. ... To talk about all those guys, that's why it's hard. From an offensive standpoint, I think our guys have been really consistent, have done a great job this year, and we have a lot of guys that are worthy of selection."