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Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal Make MLB All-Star Game History With Unprecedented Heat

Those are some fast strikeout pitches.

Madison Williams

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes throws a pitch at the 2025 All-Star Game.
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes throws a pitch at the 2025 All-Star Game. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images
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Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal, the two starting pitchers for the 2025 MLB All-Star Game, were on fire in their brief appearances on the mound on Tuesday night. And, the stats recorded prove this point further.

Skenes started for the National League and pitched a quick one-two-three to open up the game. He faced Gleyber Torres, Riley Green and Aaron Judge, striking out the first two batters. The Pittsburgh Pirates star ended up notching the two fastest strikeout pitches thrown at the All-Star Game since 2008 when the pitch-tracking era began, according to MLB's Sarah Langs. He threw a 100.3 mph fastball to Greene, and threw a 99.7 fastball to Torres before that.

Skubal added his name to this list, too, when he took to the mound at the bottom of the first inning for the American League. Skubal's outing started out rough as he gave up a single to Shohei Ohtani, another single to Ronald Acuna Jr. and then a double to Ketel Marte. Skubal secured the next three outs, with his final out logging as a strikeout to Will Smith. He threw the third-fastest strikeout pitch recorded in the list mentioned above at 99.6 mph.

The previous record before Tuesday night was a long-standing one held by Max Scherzer from the 2013 All-Star Game. He threw a 99.5 mph fastball to strike a player out.

It's not surprising that Skubal made this list as he recently jumped to the top of another strikeout speed list. Earlier this season, the Detroit Tigerst starter logged a 102.6 mph strikeout, which is the fastest strikeout pitch thrown by a starter since tracking began in '08, according to MLB.

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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.

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