Paul Skenes makes final case to start All-Star Game with unbelievable outing against Brewers

Skenes has blown past batters all season with his ferocious fastball, but he painted his masterpiece on Thursday with his full repertoire of pitches, including a devastating slider. He got Brewers left fielder Sal Frelick to swing at a late-breaking pitch in the fourth and then caught center fielder Blake Perkins staring at a beautiful backdoor slider for his 11th strikeout.

No one in baseball is pitching better than Skenes. He entered the game with a 2.12 ERA in his first 10 starts, and he lowered that to 1.90 with his historic Thursday outing.

Per OptaStats, he joined Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan as the only pitcher with at least two starts with 11 strikeouts and no hits allowed in a single season.

Skenes previously accomplished the feat in his second MLB start, needing 100 pitches in six innings against the Cubs. He only threw 99 pitches in his seven innings of work against the Brewers, so he should be rested enough to pitch for an inning on four days' rest at Tuesday's All-Star Game.

Arguably, no sport does a worse job of marketing its stars than MLB, and failing to highlight Skenes would be a disservice not only to him but also to fans.

Who doesn't want to see Skenes pitch against the AL's best, perhaps Yankees stars Aaron Judge and Juan Soto or Guardians' Jose Ramirez?

Thanks to his unbelievable outing against the Brewers, Skenes should have made NL All-Star Game manager Torey Lovullo's decision to name a starting pitcher much easier.