Paul Skenes is first in line for every headline these days, but the Pittsburgh Pirates' rookie phenom was reportedly not the first choice to start Major League Baseball's All-Star Game on Tuesday.
Skenes has been nothing short of historic this season, looking unhittable through his first 66 1/3 innings in the bigs with a 6-0 record, 1.90 ERA, and 89 strikeouts.
The 22-year-old stud is the hottest ticket in MLB, and nearly everyone has assumed of late based on marketing principles alone that Skenes would be honored as the starter for MLB's 94th All-Star Game.
However, the Arizona Diamondbacks' coaching staff may have had other plans.
The Diamondbacks' staff -- led by manager Torey Lovullo -- will be calling the shots in the dugout for the National League All-Star team due to Arizona's pennant-winning 2023 season.
Part of Lovullo's responsibility as All-Star manager is to decide which pitcher starts the game for his team, a role for which he heavily considered the Atlanta Braves' Chris Sale, according to reports.
USA Today's Bob Nightengale revealed on Sunday that Lovullo may have opted to start Sale if the Braves ace wasn't pitching on Sunday. Interestingly, Nightengale also theorized that MLB's powers that be would have stepped in and enforced Skenes as the starter even if Lovullo had chosen Sale.
"If Atlanta's Chris Sale were not starting Sunday, making him ineligible to pitch in the All-Star Game," Nightengale said, "he may have been their choice to start for the NL, D-backs coaches say."
"Yet, it’s likely MLB would have overruled manager Torey Lovullo and made Skenes the starter, anyway. Skenes was going to be the starter even before his seven no-hit innings in his last start Wednesday against the Milwaukee Brewers."
Has Sale missed out on a special achievement due to unfortunate timing and marketing schemes? It's possible.
Start or no start, Sale will have a lot to celebrate during the All-Star break. The 35-year-old lefty is having his best season in years with a 12-3 record and 2.74 ERA over 105 innings pitched entering Sunday.
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