'Must-watch TV': Paul Skenes and his 'splinker' take center stage at MLB All-Star Game

ARLINGTON, Texas— On Monday morning, Major League Baseball's 2023 top overall draft pick wore a gray suit as he navigated the walkways at Globe Life Field and found his seat at the podium next to National League All-Star manager Torey Lovullo. 

A year ago, Paul Skenes was just hoping to be in the majors by this point. On Tuesday evening, the Pirates rookie will start the All-Star Game (8 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), becoming the first player ever to go from the No. 1 pick one year to an All-Star the next. 

"Yeah," the 22-year-old NL All-Star admitted, "I didn't necessarily think I would be here."

Skenes drew acclaim — and comparisons to 2009 top overall pick Stephen Strasburg — for the power in his right arm after dominating his collegiate competition. He went 13-2 with a 1.69 ERA and 209 strikeouts in 122.2 innings as a junior at LSU while maintaining his triple-digit heat even as he routinely surpassed the triple-digit pitch mark. 

But he knew shortly after leading LSU to a national championship on June 26, 2023, and going first overall to the Pittsburgh Pirates two weeks later, that reaching his major-league goal — not becoming an All-Star, but simply being an effective big-league starter — would require adjustments. 

Primarily a fastball-slider pitcher in college, Skenes went to work on developing a reliable third pitch. Between the end of his time at college and reporting to Pirates camp, he started to fool around with his sinker grip in catch play. Soon, the "splinker" was born. 

"How I was holding the ball did not change, but the way I was releasing it and what I was feeling as I released it changed a little bit, and I just kind of discovered it on one random throw," Skenes said. "And then I just kept