Skenes joins exclusive club of rookie All-Star SP

Paul Skenes just keeps on making history.

The Pirates right-hander has dominated the opposition over his first 11 Major League starts. And now, barely over a year removed from Pittsburgh selecting him first overall in the 2023 Draft, the 22-year-old started the '24 All-Star Game for the National League at Globe Life Field. Skenes tossed a scoreless inning against the American League, retiring Steven Kwan, Gunnar Henderson and Aaron Judge while issuing a walk to Juan Soto.

Skenes has joined all sorts of exclusive company with his early-career performance, and now that is the case again. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Skenes became only the fifth rookie pitcher to start an All-Star Game since the event debuted in 1933 -- and he was the first to do so in nearly 30 years.

Here is a look at the history of rookie starters in the Midsummer Classic.

2024: Paul Skenes, RHP, Pirates (NL)
What an ascent it’s been for Skenes, who was not drafted coming out of El Toro High School in California before becoming a two-way star at the Air Force Academy (where he pitched and played catcher). He then transferred to LSU, where he focused on pitching and pushed himself to the very top of Draft boards. In pro ball, Skenes quickly made the Bucs’ decision to take him No. 1 overall look smart, blowing through the Minors before debuting on May 11 this season. Nobody has been able to hit him since. Skenes went 6-0 with a 1.90 ERA and 89-to-13 K-to-BB ratio over his first 11 outings, securing the starting spot. Those 11 starts tie Mark Fidrych (1976) for the fewest in a career entering an All-Star start, though Fidrych also had made two relief appearances. Skenes threw a scoreless inning in his All-Star Game debut, retiring Steven Kwan, Gunnar Henderson and Aaron Judge while issuing a walk to Juan Soto.

1995: Hideo Nomo, RHP, Dodgers (NL)
Nomo changed the course of baseball history when he left Japan to sign with the Dodgers in February 1995, helping pave the way for generations of Japanese stars in MLB, up to Shohei Ohtani and beyond. It’s difficult to overstate the degree to which Nomo was a sensation early in his career. The right-hander with the twisting, tornado-like delivery and diving forkball debuted by holding the Giants to one hit over five innings on May 2 that season. By the time the All-Star Game rolled around -- coincidentally, also held in Arlington, Texas, that year -- “Nomomania” was in full swing. He had a 1.99 ERA before the break, made the cover of Sports Illustrated and then struck out three AL batters over two scoreless innings.

Nomo went on to take NL Rookie of the Year honors and finish fourth in Cy Young Award voting. While his career certainly wasn’t always smooth sailing from there, he ultimately pitched 12 big league seasons, tossed multiple no-hitters and struck out nearly 2,000 batters.

1981: Fernando Valenzuela, LHP, Dodgers (NL)
Before there was Nomomania in Los Angeles, there was Fernandomania. Valenzuela, a left-hander from Navojoa, Mexico, debuted with the Dodgers as a 19-year-old reliever late in the 1980 season. When 1981 rolled around, he made the rotation and promptly threw eight straight complete games, including five shutouts, allowing an absurd four earned runs over 72 innings in that span. Armed with a wicked screwball, Valenzuela became not only a huge story in baseball -- he was a cultural phenomenon.

Facing the AL All-Stars at Cleveland Stadium, Valenzuela threw another scoreless inning. That was just another piece of a magical season that concluded with a World Series title, an NL Rookie of the Year Award and an NL Cy Young Award. Valenzuela was never quite that sensational again, but he made five more All-Star teams and logged three other top-five Cy Young finishes, starting more than 400 MLB games before he was through. The Dodgers retired his number in 2023.

1976: Mark Fidrych, RHP, Tigers (AL)
The Bird quickly, and quirkily, took baseball and the country by storm. In 1974, the Tigers drafted him in the 10th round of high school, and just two years later, he debuted with Detroit at age 21. The lanky right-hander -- who earned his nickname due to his resemblance to Big Bird on “Sesame Street” -- made his first couple of appearances out of the bullpen. But once his first start came on May 15, 1976, he didn’t look back. Over 11 first-half starts, Fidrych posted a 1.79 ERA with 10 complete games, averaging more than nine innings per outing while becoming a wildly popular figure who even appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone.

While Fidrych gave up two runs and took the loss in the All-Star Game in Philadelphia, that didn’t slow him down much. He finished the season 19-9 with a 2.34 ERA, won AL Rookie of the Year honors and finished as the AL Cy Young runner-up to Baltimore’s Jim Palmer. Arm injuries severely limited Fidrych’s career after that season, but he remains an indelible part of baseball history.

1962: Dave Stenhouse, RHP, Senators (AL)
Stenhouse was not a likely All-Star starter. He originally signed with the Cubs in 1955 but toiled in the Minors for years (with both Chicago and Cincinnati) before getting his big break. That was a trade in December 1961 from the Reds to the expansion Washington Senators, providing an opportunity for Stenhouse to finally make his debut at 28 years old. He seized it, going 10-4 with a 2.73 ERA in 22 games (15 starts) through July, including a run of four straight complete games to end the month. At that time, there were two All-Star Games per season, and Stenhouse started for the AL in the second game, which was held at Wrigley Field. He went two innings and allowed one run.

Stenhouse struggled over the final two months of the 1962 season and finished 11-12 with a 3.65 ERA in 197 innings. He threw another 175 innings over the next two seasons for Washington but was out of the Majors after that.