PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It’s part of what separates Paul Skenes from others who throw 100 miles-an-hour, Skenes is excited to go to the all-Star Game so he can learn.
The only pitcher to ever start the All-Star Game each of his first two seasons in the league, the 23-year-old said that is an honor. But it’s more than that. It’s an opportunity to get some ideas from the best in the sport.
“I think that’s the most valuable thing about going to the All-Star Game, at least for me,” Skenes said. “It’s not like me talking to Clayton Kershaw, I’m going to figure out how to pitch, but I might learn something from him. I might be able to take something from him. He’s done it for a long time and he’s not the only one, that’s just an example. Just being able to talk to some of these guys, you never know what you are going to learn.”
“You can’t get worse around those people.”
That insatiable appetite to improve, to be the best. The Pirates ace just keeps wanting more.
“He isn’t satisfied with where he’s at right now,” said Pirates manager Don Kelly. “He wants to be great. He wants to be the best. He wants to continue to learn and get better. For him to go there with the best in the world and be able to dive in and ask questions and learn more, doesn’t surprise me. It’s how he approaches every single day.”
Skenes wishes they didn’t have separate American and National League locker rooms. He mentioned AL starter Tarik Skubal and Boston ace Garrett Crochet as a couple of pitchers he would like to love to talk shop with, and maybe he still will.
Last year Skenes said he really didn’t have that much juice starting the game. There weren’t really nerves because ‘everybody is a dude’ and as Skenes said of facing the American League’s best.
“It’s always a good opportunity to see the best versus the best.”
It’s not said in a way to bring attention to himself, rather he understands he is one of the very best in baseball. And after he’s done with his inning, Skenes said he looks as forward to just watching the rest of the game. Being on the bench, having conversations with the very few as good as him and seeing what other players do on the field.
“You can’t say enough about the man himself,” Kelly said. “How he works. How he competes. How he treats people, treats his teammates. Then you get to see what he does on the mound and how he goes about it. The stuff he has and everything just comes together.”
“It is remarkable,” said Pirates GM Ben Cherington. “We all are probably guilty of taking some things for granted with Paul. We should not, It’s really hard. What he is doing is remarkable. Pitching in this game is important to him. He wants to be a part of the success of the league also. We worked hard to make sure he could do both.”
In some years, the Pirates had a representative because the rules say every team must have one player. Now they truly have one of the elite players in the game.