Paul Skenes and Shohei Ohtani on the same team? Unless the Pittsburgh Pirates cheap out and allow the Los Angeles Dodgers to steal him away, they'll only be teaming up together in the All-Star game.

Skenes made his first appearance in the All-Star game, making the start for the National League. He sat down three of the four batters he faced, allowing a walk to Juan Soto and nothing else. Ohtani drew a walk and smacked a three-run home run, the only runs that the NL would get on the board in a 5-3 loss to the American League.

Everyone in MLB was happy to welcome Skenes to the festivities, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. The phenom himself talked about how amazing it was to be in such elite company, especially that of Ohtani. The novelty will wear off eventually as he becomes a fixture of All-Star weekend.

“I tried to enjoy the three hours I had on a team with him because that's probably only going to happen once a year,” Skenes said, via ESPN. “It was really cool to watch him do that, really cool to watch him go about his business and get to meet him and all that. I don't know of any hitters I've faced that's better than him in my career. So to be able to share a dugout with him was surreal.”

Paul Skenes makes first of many All-Star games

After their first time facing off, Skenes and Ohtani both had good things to say about the other. The young pitcher blew the slugger away with a strikeout before getting taken yard. The Pirates hope to contend for the World Series with the likes of the Dodgers one day. Skenes will be the centerpiece of their next great team.

In 11 starts/66.1 innings so far this season, Skenes has an absurd 1.90 ERA and has struck out 34.9 percent of the batters he has faced. Opponents are collectively hitting just .02 over the Mendoza Line against him, unable to do damage against his high-powered stuff.

Skenes' rise is nothing short of meteoric. He made his MLB debut less than a year after he was drafted first overall. After allowing three earned runs in four innings in his debut, he hasn’t pitched fewer than five innings. He has allowed three runs in just one other start. He has more games with 11 strikeouts (two) than he does games with fewer than six strikeouts (once, when he had just three but still allowed just one run in six innings).

Ohtani is having a great season, too. His 1.036 OPS, 75 runs and 29 home runs lead the NL and he has been improving as the season goes on, posting a 1.283 OPS and 25 RBI over his last 25 games. He could very well be the MVP of the league as he works his way back to being a pitcher in the 2025 season. His sights, however, are set on the World Series.

The next few years, if not more, of NL All-Star rosters will feature the likes of Paul Skenes and Shohei Ohtani.