DK: Skenes 'not super-surprised' by second All-Star selection
Paul Skenes will head back to the All-Star Game, July 15 in Atlanta, and he'll go it alone.
He made history last year when he started for the National League, two months after making his Pittsburgh debut. He was the first player named an All-Star in the season after being drafted and the first rookie pitcher to start since Hideo Nomo in 1995. He'll join Bob Veale and Rip Sewell as the Pirates' only starting pitchers to be selected in at least two straight seasons.
In the Pirates' 1-0 loss to the Mariners today here at T-Mobile Park, he pitched five scoreless innings and struck out a season-high 10, allowing five hits and no walks, this despite a 20-pitch first inning where he “didn’t feel exceptional.”
Of the All-Star selection, Skenes would say, "Yeah, pretty cool. Looking forward to it. I didn't make plans over the All-Star break or anything, so ... I'm not super-surprised, but it's definitely an honor."
Don't dare take that as arrogance. This is how he pitches. This is how he lives. Keeps it real.
This was how he found out from Don Kelly before the game and well before it became public:
"Paul means a lot, obviously, to our team but also to baseball as a whole," Kelly would say. "I'm just really happy for him and proud of him for what he's accomplished, and it's just a tremendous honor for him to go to the All-Star Game."
For the season, Skenes' 1.94 ERA ranks second in Major League Baseball, his .186 batting average against ranks third, his 0.92 WHIP ranks sixth, and his 125 strikeouts rank eighth.
A couple questions I had for him:
• On the season that he and the Pirates have had: "Yeah, it’s been a learning experience all-around, I think. The way I’m kind of thinking of it is: We’re however many games under .500 right now. It’s only a lost season, a failure of a season if you make it that way. So, just making sure we’re learning from it and getting better through it, even if it’s not showing right now. That’s how I’m looking at it, and I think that’s how a lot of other guys are looking at it too."
• On whether he's grown as a pitcher: "Yeah, I mean, I’ve learned a lot, and that’s the biggest thing. My stuff hasn’t really changed. Just learning how to pitch with everybody in the league seeing me before."
Last time the Pirates had only one representative: Felipe Vazquez in 2018.
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Dejan Kovacevic
8:47 pm - 07.06.2025SEATTLEDK: Skenes 'not super-surprised' by second All-Star selection
Paul Skenes will head back to the All-Star Game, July 15 in Atlanta, and he'll go it alone.
He made history last year when he started for the National League, two months after making his Pittsburgh debut. He was the first player named an All-Star in the season after being drafted and the first rookie pitcher to start since Hideo Nomo in 1995. He'll join Bob Veale and Rip Sewell as the Pirates' only starting pitchers to be selected in at least two straight seasons.
In the Pirates' 1-0 loss to the Mariners today here at T-Mobile Park, he pitched five scoreless innings and struck out a season-high 10, allowing five hits and no walks, this despite a 20-pitch first inning where he “didn’t feel exceptional.”
Of the All-Star selection, Skenes would say, "Yeah, pretty cool. Looking forward to it. I didn't make plans over the All-Star break or anything, so ... I'm not super-surprised, but it's definitely an honor."
Don't dare take that as arrogance. This is how he pitches. This is how he lives. Keeps it real.
This was how he found out from Don Kelly before the game and well before it became public:
"Paul means a lot, obviously, to our team but also to baseball as a whole," Kelly would say. "I'm just really happy for him and proud of him for what he's accomplished, and it's just a tremendous honor for him to go to the All-Star Game."
For the season, Skenes' 1.94 ERA ranks second in Major League Baseball, his .186 batting average against ranks third, his 0.92 WHIP ranks sixth, and his 125 strikeouts rank eighth.
A couple questions I had for him:
• On the season that he and the Pirates have had: "Yeah, it’s been a learning experience all-around, I think. The way I’m kind of thinking of it is: We’re however many games under .500 right now. It’s only a lost season, a failure of a season if you make it that way. So, just making sure we’re learning from it and getting better through it, even if it’s not showing right now. That’s how I’m looking at it, and I think that’s how a lot of other guys are looking at it too."
• On whether he's grown as a pitcher: "Yeah, I mean, I’ve learned a lot, and that’s the biggest thing. My stuff hasn’t really changed. Just learning how to pitch with everybody in the league seeing me before."
Last time the Pirates had only one representative: Felipe Vazquez in 2018.
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