'That's the stage people want to pitch on': Pirates rookie Paul Skenes excited to start All-Star Game

Even as Paul Skenes said skyrocketing from No. 1 overall pick to National League starter in the All-Star Game in a year “doesn’t feel like anything out of the ordinary,” the Pittsburgh Pirates rookie right-hander couldn’t hide his excitement about pitching against baseball’s best players.

During an in-game interview on SportsNet Pittsburgh during the Pirates’ game at the Chicago White Sox on Sunday afternoon, Skenes said he is ready for the spotlight Tuesday night that comes with the Midsummer Classic.

“I’m excited. It’s going to be fun,” Skenes said, adding that he ordered several new suits for the red carpet and other All-Star events. “Hopefully, a packed stadium — I imagine it will be — but it’s going to be a good lineup. That’s the stage people want to pitch on, for sure.”

Although National League manager Torey Lovullo named Skenes the All-Star starter, the Arizona Diamondbacks skipper warned he would resist temptations and not have him pitch past the first inning.

“Most likely, no. We have 11-12 pitchers to get through,” Lovullo said Monday in a news conference at Arlington, Texas. “I want to make sure we’re fair to everybody and give them a chance to go out there and compete. … That’s probably the hardest part of being the manager, in my early opinion, is trying to get every pitcher in the game. I would love to. I would love to watch him for two, actually, I would love to tire him out enough so that he can’t make one of his next starts because it’ll be against the Diamondbacks. But I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

That means Skenes won’t necessarily face New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge in a much-anticipated matchup. Cleveland’s Steven Kwan, Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson and the Yankees’ Juan Soto are the top three hitters in the American League lineup. Judge will bat cleanup.

“That’s a big-on-big matchup,” Skenes said Monday on MLB Network. “Aaron is one of the best players in the world, if not the best player in the world right now. So that would be a cool matchup. … It’s just a matter of going out there and executing. Whoever is on the other side, I’m going to go out there and play my game.”

While Skenes remains calm and collected about becoming the first Pirates rookie pitcher to earn NL starting honors — and the first player to be selected to the All-Star Game the year after being the No. 1 overall MLB Draft pick — Skenes shared that he expects to get an adrenaline rush from participating and playing in his first All-Star Game.

“There are certain days where I have to calm myself down, and there are certain days where I have to kind of give myself a kick in the butt and get myself going for the game,” Skenes said. “I’d imagine the All-Star Game is probably going to be one where I have to calm myself down, but butterflies, nerves — whatever you want to call it — those are present every single game, for sure.”

Skenes credited a creative routine with his pregame preparation for a successful transition from leading LSU to the College World Series championship last year to cruising through multiple levels of the minors and making his major-league debut in less than a year. And he explained why one of the newest wrinkles — throwing a football — has become an important addition to that routine.

“Really, I started throwing it about when I got called up just because I needed to do it,” Skenes said. “Guys throw (plyometric) balls. I throw weighted balls. Some days, I’ll throw a softball, but also I’ll throw a football. I think there are a number of different things that’s good for. The arm action of it, I think it helps with breaking pitches when you have a supinated release with your hand.”

Skenes started his routine when he was a pitcher-catcher at the U.S. Air Force Academy — where he won the John Olerud Award as the nation’s top two-way player — and continues to make additions as necessary.

“The thing I try to develop over time is just body awareness,” Skenes said. “It’s not something that I have figured out by any stretch. My body awareness right now is not where it’s going to be a year from now and not where it was a year ago. I’m just trying to develop that over time. I do think that’s something hitting and catching helped me with, just being able to be athletic and feel my body and understand what’s going on. I think that’s super important, how you feel your body as well as being able to see what your body is doing and be able to build that bridge is super important.”

Speaking of Skenes on his weekly radio show, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said he supported manager Derek Shelton’s decision to pull the 6-foot-6, 260-pound right-hander after seven no-hit innings Thursday at Milwaukee. Skenes had 11 strikeouts and allowed one walk but had thrown 99 pitches, and Colin Holderman surrendered a single to Jake Bauers, the first batter he faced, before combining with Aroldis Chapman to protect the lead in the 1-0 win over the Brewers.

“I was pretty sure that seventh inning was going to be his last inning,” Cherington said Sunday on 93.7 FM. “I was thinking along with how Shelty was thinking in the dugout. It was pretty obvious to me he was going to come out. I just credit Shelty and our staff with making that decision. You know when you make that decision, not everyone’s going to like it. You know that. But they made the right decision. They’re putting Paul first. They’re putting the team first.

“He’s going to pitch in this league a long time. There will be days when maybe he will be given a little longer leash if he’s in that situation. But right now, first year in the major leagues, just named to the All-Star Game, that was right call to get him out. Fortunately, our bullpen did the job and we won the game.”

Cherington said he expects Skenes to pitch one inning in the All-Star Game and added he was “pretty confident” Skenes would make his next start sometime during the Pirates’ ensuing six-game homestand against the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals. Cherington also noted that the Pirates will continue to monitor Skenes’ workload.

“We need to keep in mind that this is Paul’s first year in the major leagues,” Cherington said. “Literally, this time last year, he wasn’t even a Pirate yet. It’s all happened fast.”