The reigning AL Cy Young winner and the best young pitcher in baseball will be on the mound for the 2025 MLB All-Star Game next Tuesday at Truist Park in Atlanta. Detroit Tigers lefty Tarik Skubal and Pittsburgh Pirates righty Paul Skenes have been named the All-Star Game starting pitchers. Fox’s Saturday night MLB broadcast made the announcement.
Here is Skenes receiving the call from manager Dave Roberts, who will manage the National League team.
The call to National League Starting Pitcher, Paul Skenes 馃ゲ pic.twitter.com/s38F41vV4o
At just 23, Skenes will become the youngest pitcher ever to start back-to-back All-Star Games, surpassing Hall of Famer Robin Roberts. Skenes leads baseball with a 2.01 ERA and has struck out 131 batters in 121 innings. He was the NL Rookie of the Year last season and finished third in the NL Cy Young voting.
As for Skubal, he appeared in the All-Star Game last season, but did not start. It was his first All-Star Game nod. He went on to win the AL Cy Young unanimously. Skubal has been even better this season, boasting a lower ERA (2.39 vs. 2.23), a higher strikeout-to-walk ratio, and solid overall pitching numbers.
Though deserving, the options for starting pitchers were limited as various candidates withdrew from consideration for workload reasons. Notable absentees include Hunter Brown (Houston Astros), Garrett Crochet (Boston Red Sox), Max Fried (New York Yankees), and Zack Wheeler (Philadelphia Phillies).
Here are the full All-Star Game rosters. The starting position players are chosen through fan voting while the reserve players and pitchers are selected via player voting and input from the commissioner’s office. The managers, Roberts and Aaron Boone from the Yankees, typically select the starting pitchers after consulting with the players’ respective teams.
The 95th annual All-Star Game will take place on Tuesday, July 15. The American League has celebrated victory 10 of the last 11 years, but the overall series is still close at 48-44-2 in favor of the AL.
