ARLINGTON, Texas — This party will forever be known as the kickoff party for Pittsburgh Pirates rookie sensation Paul Skenes, but Shohei Ohtani once again reminded everyone Tuesday night at the All-Star Game that he’s still the greatest player in the world, while Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran’s breakout season added a new chapter.
The American League won the All-Star Game 5-3, with Duran joining Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski as the only Boston Red Sox outfielders to win the MVP award.
Yet even after he pitched the first inning of the game without a strikeout, everyone was still talking about Skenes.
He arrived in town Sunday with his famous girlfriend Livvy Dunne and left with everyone else at Globe Life Field, convinced that the All-Star Game could become an annual trip.
Skenes was amazed to realize that he had grown up watching and idolizing these All-Stars, and now he was one of them. On Monday night, he sat next to Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow and Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds during the Home Run Derby. On Tuesday night, after pitching an inning, he sat next to veteran Atlanta starter Chris Sale on the bench and ate in the locker room with Glasnow and starters Hunter Greene of the Cincinnati Reds and Logan Webb of the San Francisco Giants.
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“I think that’s probably the coolest part of it all,” Skenes said. “I think the coolest part is they’ve been so accepting of me and welcomed me into the clubhouse, and they’ve been very supportive, watching my debut. It’s been really cool.”
“I really feel like I’m one of them.”
While most players leave after playing in the All-Star Game, Skenes chose to stay, watching Ohtani hit a 400-foot, three-run homer in the third inning.
“I think I’ve been answering questions about Shohei for the last four or five years at All-Star Games,” said first baseman Freddie Freeman, Ohtani’s teammate. “I still don’t have the words to describe what he does. We’ve always talked about him as a pitcher and a hitter, and now he’s coming off Tommy John for the second time, and he’s still playing and being the best player in the game.”
“So it’s pretty incredible.”
Skenes, who gave up a home run to Ohtani last month, was just grateful to be able to be teammates with Ohtani one night and watch him do damage to someone else.
“It was really cool to see him do that,” Skenes said. “It was really cool to see him go about his business and meet him and stuff.
“I don’t know any hitter I’ve faced that’s better than him in my career.
“So to be able to share a bench with him was surreal.”
National League players shared similar sentiments about Skenes, speaking to him about his blistering fastball, his splinker pitch, his past as an Air Force Academy cadet and his current emergence as one of the greatest starting pitchers in history.
“It was great talking to him,” Webb said. “I talked to a lot of pitchers and learned a lot from those guys.”
What did he learn from Skenes?
“I wish I could,” Webb said with a laugh, “but I’m not throwing 102.”
Skenes’ coming-out night was uneventful on the field. He opened the game by inducing a lazy fly-out from leadoff hitter Steve Kwan, who leads the major leagues with a .352 batting average. Gunnar Henderson, who is hitting .286 with 28 homers, was the next victim, hitting a 50-mph bouncer to the mound.
This reminded me of Juan Soto.
Soto battled Skenes for seven pitches and drew a walk when Skenes missed an 84.7 mph curveball and then again a 100 mph fastball.
“I was trying to get him to move deep,” Soto said. “No lie.”
Aaron Judge, the American League home run champion and major league leader with 34 home runs, stepped up. Skenes threw a 99.7 mph fastball. Judge had a hit and hit a routine grounder to third base.
Skenes’ night was over.
“It was pretty cool,” Skenes said.
The pitch he will remember most?
“It’s probably the first pitch,” he said, “just being out there. I don’t think I blacked out when I was out there, but I was pretty close. It was cool to be on that mound, but just to be able to share that with my family and have them here and just be able to have that experience.”
It will certainly be a night Duran will never forget either, hitting a two-run home run in the fifth inning in his first at-bat. The home run allowed him to highlight his mental health advocacy that plagued him early in his career. He wears a T-shirt under his Red Sox jersey that reads “(Expletive) ’em” and holds up the MVP trophy with the phrase “Still Alive” written on his bandaged wrist.
Now he has some equipment too.
“It’s kind of hard to put into words,” Duran said, “but honestly, I couldn’t stop thinking about my family. It’s a surreal moment. …
“I mean, the All-Star Game, the first home run, the All-Star Game MVP. I’m just so grateful. It’s hard to put into words.
“I won’t realize it until I try to go to sleep tonight.
“Who knows if I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”
The only All-Star who won’t be sleeping at all is American League starting pitcher Corbin Burnes. He didn’t arrive at the ballpark until Tuesday morning, having spent the last two days with his wife, son and newborn twin girls. He pitched one inning and immediately flew home to Phoenix, planning to spend the rest of the All-Star break with his family.
“They’re a little over two weeks old,” Burnes said, “so it was nice to come home and see them. The last time I saw them, they were a few days old. It was hard to tell them apart then. I’m glad I can tell them apart now.”
“So I’m going to go back, change some diapers, give the girl some bottles and spend as much time with them as possible before I go home.”
It would have been easy for Burnes not to attend the All-Star Game. He didn’t need to be there. Everyone would have understood.
“I couldn’t do that,” he said. “Every year, my wife says to me, ‘You never know when it’s going to be your last game.’ So if you’re going to have the honor of coming, I think you should not only represent Major League Baseball, but also the team that I’m a part of.
“I wanted to enjoy the experience.”
It was a night few will forget.
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