MLB All-Star Game: Rookie pitchers to start Midseason classic

Paul Skenes has been in the big leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates for just over two months.

And in that time, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft has taken the league by storm — while also adding a fresh chapter to the excitement surrounding America's past time as one of the sports' exciting young talents.

His reward? Becoming the first rookie starting pitcher to start an All-Star Game in nearly three decades with the Los Angeles Dodgers Hideo Nomo being the last one in 1995. The former LSU baseball star pitcher will start Tuesday's MLB All-Star Game at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas at 8 p.m. ET.

"The goal was to be in the major leagues and to hopefully be an effective big league starter by this time," said Skenes Monday during his press conference on what his goal was this time last year when he was taken in the MLB draft to now. "I didn't necessarily think I would be here (at the All-Star Game).

Skenes takes the bump Tuesday for the National League with a 6-0 record and 1.90 ERA in 66 1/3 innings pitched with 89 strikeouts across 11 starts. His final start before the All-Star break vs. the Milwaukee Brewers July 11 was massively impressive as he struck out 11 hitters across seven no-hit innings. It was the second time this season that Skenes struck out 11 through at least six no-hit innings, putting him with Nolan Ryan as the only two pitchers in MLB history to have accomplished this feat twice in a season.

Skenes is the first Pirates pitcher to start the Midsummer Classic since Jerry Reuss in 1975 and the sixth overall Pirates pitcher to start the All-Star Game as a whole, with the others being Bob Friend, Vern Law and Dock Ellis. Friend started in both 1956 and 1960.

Here's what you need to know on the history that Skenes will making Tuesday when he steps on the rubber at Globe Life Field at the 2024 MLB All-Star Game:

Rookie pitchers to start an MLB All-Star Game

Skenes will become the fifth rookie starting pitcher to have started an All-Star Game in the 94-year history of the Midsummer Classic. He is the first rookie to get the ball in the All-Star Game since Hideo Nomo, who started the 1995 MLB All-Star Game as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Here's a breakdown of rookie pitchers who have started an All-Star Game:

• 2024: Paul Skenes (Pittsburgh Pirates)
• 1995: Hideo Nomo (Los Angeles Dodgers)
• 1981: Fernando Valenzuela (Los Angeles Dodgers)
• 1976: Mark Fidrych (Detroit Tigers)
• 1962: Dave Stenhouse (Washington Senators)*

* From 1959 through 1962, there were two All-Star Games played each year. Stenhouse started the second All-Star Game in 1962 as a member of the then-Washington Senators.

Fewest MLB starts before starting the All-Star Game

With only 11 career MLB starts under his belt, Skenes has made MLB history by having the fewest MLB starts, and fewest MLB games played, before starting an All-Star Game as noted by the Associated Press and Elias Sports.

"Pretty dang cool," Skenes said Monday at Globe Life Field in Texas on the feat.

Youngest starting pitchers in MLB All-Star Game

Per Baseball Reference, Skenes is the sixth youngest starting pitcher to have started the MLB All-Star Game at 22 years, 48 days old. The youngest pitcher to have started an All-Star Game is Jerry Walker of the Baltimore Orioles, who started the 1959 All-Star Game at 20 years, 172 days old.

Skenes is the third-youngest National League starting pitcher in the All-Star Game, only behind Valenzuela and the New York Mets' Dwight Gooden.

Using Baseball Reference as the data base, here's a full breakdown of the youngest starting pitchers in MLB All-Star Game history, from the day they were drafted to when they started the ASG:

• 1. Jerry Walker (Baltimore Orioles, 1959 ASG): 20 years, 172 days
• 2. Fernando Valenzuela (Los Angeles Dodgers, 1981 ASG): 20 years, 281 days
• 3. Dwight Gooden (New York Mets, 1986 ASG): 21 years, 241 days
• 4. Mark Fidrych (Detroit Tigers, 1976 ASG): 21 years, 334 days
• 5. Vida Blue (Oakland Athletics, 1971 ASG): 21 years, 350 days
• 6. Paul Skenes (Pittsburgh Pirates, 2024 ASG): 22 years, 48 days
• 7. Denny McLain (Detroit Tigers, 1966 ASG): 22 years, 105 days
• 8. Ralph Branca (Brooklyn Dodgers,1948 ASG): 22 years, 189 days
• 9. Bob Feller (then-Cleveland Indians, 1941): 22 years, 247 days
• 10. Don Drysdale (Los Angeles Dodgers, 1959): 22 years, 349 days

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: MLB All-Star Game: Rookie pitchers to start Midseason classic