Baseball fans got their wish when Paul Skenes faced Aaron Judge in the All-Star Game.
New York Yankees star Juan Soto kept his promise to get his teammate a first-inning at-bat by drawing a full-count walk against Pittsburgh Pirates rookie right-hander Skenes, setting up the highly anticipated matchup between the 6-foot-6 Skenes and the 6-7 Judge, dubbed “big on big.”
After going 6-0 with a 1.90 ERA and 89 strikeouts in his first 11 starts, Skenes made history by becoming the first player to go from No. 1 overall pick to starting in the All-Star Game the following year for the National League, and the first rookie to start an All-Star Game since Hideo Nomo in 1995.
During an in-game interview with Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, Skenes was asked if he was excited or nervous.
“A little bit of both,” Skenes said. “You can’t deny that there are three decks filled with people, but at the end of the day, it’s just baseball.”
Skenes first faced Cleveland’s Steven Kwan, one of the top contact hitters with a .352 average in the first half. Kwan fouled off a 98.2-mph four-seamer, swung and missed at a 94.2-mph splinker, fouled off another splinker, and hit a 99.9-mph fastball to shortstop Trea Turner in shallow center.
Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson went down looking at Skenes’ first splinker, swung at a 98.9-mph fastball, took a 99.6-mph fastball for a ball, and then hit a grounder back to the mound for the second out. Soto provided the toughest at-bat, nodding in approval after a 94.4-mph splinker, taking balls on a slider and splinker, whiffing on another splinker, fouling off a 100.1-mph four-seamer, and then taking a curveball to work a full count before drawing a walk on a 100-mph fastball.
Skenes quickly dispatched Judge, who swung at the first-pitch 99.7-mph fastball for a bouncer to Philadelphia third baseman Alec Bohm, who threw to second for a forceout to end the inning.
“It was cool to face them back-to-back,” Skenes said. “They were tough. Soto was a tough at-bat, and Judge, I went after him and got him to roll over. It was cool to face them in the All-Star Game.”
Skenes didn’t get a strikeout but threw 11 of his 16 pitches for strikes, reaching triple digits twice and inducing three groundouts in his All-Star debut.
“It went well,” Skenes said. “I didn’t have many pitches to show off, but it felt good, and I got a zero, which is what matters.”
Hall of Famer John Smoltz, working as a color analyst for Fox Sports, was impressed with Skenes in his first in-person viewing.
“For a young man to be in this spot and not get outside of himself in his first-ever appearance, that’s a great sign,” Smoltz said. “It’s not easy to pitch in your first All-Star Game, especially as a rookie. It’s going to be fun to watch him throughout the year.”