Former LSU baseball right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes has made the MLB All-Star Game.
Skenes, the rookie phenom for the Pittsburgh Pirates, has a 2.12 ERA in 59⅓ innings this season. He's recorded 78 strikeouts and has walked just 12 batters in 10 starts.
He is the first player to be selected No. 1 overall in the MLB draft and then make the MLB All-Star Game the next season. He's the lone LSU former player to make the All-Star Game this year.
This year's All-Star Game will be held in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday, July 16 at 7 p.m. on FOX.
Last season, Toronto Blue Jays right-handed pitcher Kevin Gausman was the only former LSU player to make the All-Star Game. Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman, New York Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu and Philadelphia Phillies right-handed pitcher Aaron Nola are the other four active major leaguers and former LSU players to make the All-Star Game.
Just a year ago, Skenes was preparing to be drafted as a first-round pick in the 2023 MLB draft. He guided LSU to its seventh national championship in June, finishing his first season as a full-time pitcher and only year at LSU with a 1.69 ERA in 122⅔ innings.
He won the Dick Howser Trophy and led the nation with 209 strikeouts and 15.33 strikeouts per nine innings. He was a consensus All-American and only walked 20 batters in 19 starts.
He then tossed eight scoreless innings against Wake Forest in the College World Series, allowing just two earned runs in 15⅔ innings in two starts at Omaha. His outing against Wake Forest was a 2-0 victory in 11 innings that clinched LSU's spot in the College World Series final against Florida.
Following his heroics in Omaha, Skenes was selected by the Pirates with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB draft. His teammate, LSU star center fielder Dylan Crews, was then selected with the No. 2 overall pick.
LSU set an SEC record with 13 players selected in last year's draft.
Skenes tossed just 6⅔ innings in the minor leagues after he was drafted last season. He then pitched 27⅓ innings to start this year with the Pirates' Triple-A minor league affiliate in Indianapolis before getting called up to the major leagues on May 11.
He posted a 0.99 ERA in seven starts in Triple-A, striking out 45 batters and surrendering just one home run.
He allowed three earned runs in four innings in his first career start against the Chicago Cubs, but proceeded to throw six no-hit innings in his second outing that was also against the Cubs.
In the nine starts since his debut, Skenes has surrendered two or fewer earned runs in all but one outing. He has struck out seven or more batters in nine of 10 starts, becoming the first MLB player to accomplish the feat in the first 10 starts of their career.
Skenes was a two-way star before he transferred to LSU, playing catcher while also pitching in two seasons at Air Force. At the plate, he blasted 11 homers as a freshman and 13 as a sophomore.
Skenes is from Fullerton, California, and attended El Toro High before he arrived at Air Force.