ARLINGTON, TEXAS – The last time the All-Star Game was played here, all the pregame buzz was about a rookie righthander who was starting for the National League. Twenty-nine years later, we get the remake.
Where once Hideo Nomo was the star of stars, now it is Paul Skenes. Nomo was 6–1 with a 1.99 ERA and 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings when he started the 1995 All-Star Game. Skenes is 6–0 with a 1.90 ERA and 12.1 punchouts per nine.
Nomo did not disappoint. He pitched two shutout innings. (Two innings! The past eight All-Star starters have gone just one inning.) He struck out three. He retired three future Hall of Famers: Edgar Martinez, Frank Thomas and Cal Ripken Jr.
Nomo was 26 years old and had pitched in Japan for five seasons. Skenes is 22 and was pitching for LSU last year. He signed his first pro contract a year ago Thursday. He is even more of a phenom.
This is Skenes’s national introduction. The fastest pitch he has thrown this year was 101.9 mph. He just might go beyond that tonight. To understand just how good Skenes is, I decided to ask the best experts available: some of the All-Stars who have seen Skenes’s stuff from up close.
Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers (0-for-3, 1 K vs. Skenes)
“Right now the most impressive thing about him is the command of the baseball. He can go in and out with the heater. He can throw that … whatever you call that thing … at the bottom of the zone. He doesn't really make mistakes with it. I think that's what makes the deGroms and the Scherzers and all those guys so hard to hit. It's the command.
“You can have elite stuff, but if you miss over the plate, we're going to, at some point, hit it. So, to have the command of the baseball. That he has this early in his career, and obviously with all the hype and all that, all the fanfare, all the media attention, and to go out there and just put the ball where you want, with 100, 102, with splitters, or whatever you call that thing … that's what's special.
“The game of baseball is in good hands with these young guys coming up. There's a lot of good ones and he's obviously at the top of the list.”
Riley Greene, Detroit Tigers (0-for-3, 1 K)
“He’s got that fastball at a hundred, so you have to be aware of that. And then you get that sinker-splitter thing at 91 that’s going down. The only thing I tried to do is look for the ball up and try to hit it in the air [get under it]. And then hopefully you see the sweeper coming out of his hand.
“The fastball is firm. He’s also got that low release point, so it’s got that up-shooty action, as we hitters like to say.”
Is there any pitcher he would compare him to that might be similar?
“No. I’d say he’s a one of one.”
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Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers (0-for-3, 1 K)
“He’s obviously got a great splitter or sinker or whatever he calls it, and he does a good job locating it. And he was kind of changing speeds with us. Anywhere from 91 to 95, 96. Fastball from 99 to 100. So, does a good job knowing how to use his arsenal and what angles he's kind of throwing from. At least that's what I took from the box. You have to ask him if that's what he does intentionally.
“It kind of seemed like he knew what he was doing and how he was setting it up and trying to pitch. So, I thought he was pretty advanced.”
Does the splinker act like a split or a sinker?
“You know, I thought it had different action every time. It's one of those things where it's just kind of hard to square up.
“Like, you could tell it was just something that’s not a fastball, right? But then you kind of just like hit the top of it. It has so much depth and movement to it where even ones that were kind of hittable that you would see you'd kind of swing over the top of them. And then once he kind of got you out there, he'd kind of angle that heater in on you as a lefty.
“I can see how he's tough on righties. How much that ball is moving in on him. Obviously, he’s a great young pitcher and a bright pitcher as well.”
Skenes’s Pitch Speed Variance
Tyler Glasnow, Dodgers pitcher
“Watching him pitch I was probably a little bit more locked in than normal. I've seen his mechanics. They're sort of like sharp and consistent especially how young he is. He's already pitching with such good stuff at such a young age and with such a good feel for his mechanics.
“Seeing that and his composure and stuff being that young? Impressive. It was tough for me when I was 22 to be that composed. And he seems very stoked about it.”
I have tremendous respect for Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy. But there is no way you can write a lineup for the All-Star Game that does not guarantee the greatest and most wanted pitching matchup possible: Aaron Judge against Skenes.
Bochy built his lineup as if trying to win the game, with prototypical leadoff hitter Steven Kwan at the top, followed by Gunnar Henderson, Juan Soto and then Judge. So, if Skenes goes 1–2–3 in the first and does not pitch a second inning, we don’t get the greatest exhibition in a game that is nothing but an exhibition.
Let’s hope somebody gets on base or Skenes goes a second inning (though the Pittsburgh staff would be on cardiac alert). We should not have to root for either. We should already know that Judge will be facing Skenes.
Bryce Harper had a very interesting answer when he was asked to name the best player in baseball. He first named someone who is not even at the All-Star Game.
“I would still say Mike Trout,” Harper said. “I still think when he's healthy, it’s so special to watch.”
Harper then expanded on his answer.
“Obviously Aaron Judge. What he's doing this year is incredible … Shohei. I mean, the game is in such good hands. Older and younger as well. Gunnar Henderson, Bobby Witt … I mean the game is in such a remarkable place right now.”
Asked to pick the best player among the All-Stars, Harper replied, “Right now? Aaron Judge. His numbers? It's incredible. I mean, it's the best first half I've ever seen as an individual player.”
I asked Harper if he would compare hitting notes with Ohtani. They are teammates for the first time and have such similar swing mechanics. Both have a slight turn away from the ball in their load, then uncoil with ferociously fast hips that move up as they rotate open.
“I'm excited to just obviously be around a lot of guys and be around Shohei, obviously,” Harper said. “Our swings are very similar, I guess you could say. The toe tap, things like that. The hips. Yeah, I mean, just the way he kind of goes through the baseball and stuff like that.
“If there was one thing I’d probably ask of him, I don't know. ‘What kind of bat model do you use?’ I guess.”
As for their swings, both keep their heads well behind the ball and center of mass while their hips turn upward as they turn open:
That’s not all. Check out how similar their numbers are since Ohtani made his debut in 2018:
I asked Dodgers catcher Will Smith what has impressed him most about Ohtani now that he’s had him as a teammate.
“The way he prepares for a game,” Smith says. “He's always tracking everything. He's got his hitting metrics and all that. You know, he understands it all. I'm pretty impressed with him.”
I told Smith I’m surprised he didn’t say how fastidious is Ohtani when it comes to keeping a clean dugout.
“Oh, yeah,” Smith said. “There was a video of me throwing gum on the field. And he’s giving me a dirty look.”
Bobby Witt Jr. is back home. Literally. He said that after the All-Star Game he plans to stay with his parents (his father, Bobby Witt Sr., pitched 16 years in the big leagues) in the same bedroom he used as a kid. The room, he said, is largely unchanged. I asked him what posters he still has on the wall.
“A signed [Dustin] Pedroia jersey, a signed [Derek] Jeter jersey and our high school championship team picture,” he said.
The Golden Age of Shortstops is here. The All-Star Game is its official unveiling. Witt, Henderson, Elly De La Cruz and C.J. Abrams are all first-time All-Stars, all are at least 6-foot-1, all are 24 or younger and all have an OPS of at least .830.
This is the first time four shortstops have been this good and this young. Let’s appreciate it tonight and going forward.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as All-Star Game Notebook: What It’s Like to Hit Against Paul Skenes.
