Paul Skenes is the prisoner of Pittsburgh as his All-Star honor is a life sentence in baseball’s worst nightmare

Paul Skenes absorbed the news of his starting role during the All Star Game with stoicism during a clubhouse call from National League manager Dave Roberts, his emotionless belying the gravity of the moment. At just 23, he becomes the youngest pitcher ever to start back-to-back All-Star Games and joins an exclusive pantheon of just five players in MLB history to start the Midsummer Classic in each of their first two seasons-alongside Hall of Famers Joe DiMaggio, Frank Robinson, Rod Carew, and Ichiro Suzuki

While the Pirates spiral (losers of 7 straight entering the break), Skenes has been arguably baseball’s most dominant arm:

• League-Best 2.01 ERA and 0.93 WHIP across 20 starts.
• 131 strikeouts in 121 innings, including a recent milestone of 300 career Ks in just 43 starts-making him the first Pirate ever and one of only 17 pitchers in MLB history to do so.
• A 1.72 ERA since May 1-best in MLB-yet only a 1-5 record in that span due to criminally absent run support 10. His 4-8 season record is the worst ever for an All-Star Game starting pitcher at the break, a grotesque mismatch of individual brilliance and systemic failure.

Skenes’ 2025 campaign is a masterclass in pitching futility. He has thrown 25 consecutive scoreless first innings, yet the Pirates lost all 25 games. Despite surrendering only 27 earned runs all year, Pittsburgh has lost 11 of his starts. His last win came on May 28-a 14-start winless stretch where he maintained a 1.77 ERA. This isn’t bad luck; it’s organizational malpractice wasting a Cy Young-level arm.

Tale of Two Aces – 2025 All-Star Game Starters

Opposing Skenes will be Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, creating a historic pitching matchup dripping with irony. While Skubal thrives with run support (8-0, 1.75 ERA in his last 13 starts), Skenes languishes (1-5, 1.72 ERA in same span). Their diverging fortunes underscore baseball’s cruelest truth: pitching greatness means nothing without a functioning team behind it.

Skenes’ current reality defies logic: a pitcher with a 1.98 career ERA and 301 strikeouts in 254 innings shackled to a team that can’t score, field, or win for him. Manager Don Kelly acknowledges Skenes’ relentless drive to be “the best,” but Pittsburgh’s poverty of competence risks stunting a career destined for Cooperstown.

With every gem wasted-like his July 12 start in Minnesota (5 IP, 2 ER, 8 Ks, 300th career K) ending in a 2-1 loss-the drumbeat grows louder: Trade him to a contender, or become the franchise that wasted a legend.

Skenes’ place in history is already secure. He’s the first No. 1 draft pick to start an All-Star Game as a rookie (2024) and now the first pitcher to start in both his first two seasons 46. His 300 strikeouts in 43 starts put him alongside Pedro Martínez and Randy Johnson in a statistical echelon of early-career dominance.

Yet as he takes the mound in Atlanta, the baseball world won’t just see an ace-it’ll see a paradox. How long can brilliance burn this bright in a black hole of Pittsburgh’s making? The All-Star start is a coronation. The trade deadline looms as a potential liberation.