22-year-old All-Star placed with Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge by MLB analyst as road showstoppers

Former Minnesota Twins star Trevor Plouffe specifically went to Dodger Stadium on April 25th to watch 22-year-old All-Star Paul Skenes pitch against Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and the rest of the LA Dodgers hitters.

Skenes impressed with a quality start, helping his team win, after pitching 6.1 scoreless innings. He allowed five hits and had a season-high nine strikeouts in the Pirates' 3-0 win against the defending champions.

On Monday, Chris Rose and Plouffe were discussing Skenes putting on a show and drawing attendance even if not in PNC Park.

“It has become a little Bonds-ish of 20-plus years ago, a little McGwire-Sosa-ish of '98,” Rose said on Baseball Today (11:48 onwards). "When this guy comes to town for the one time a year, you want to see him dominate your team but be losing 1-0 when he leaves. You still want to see something special — and Skenes is totally different."

Plouffe agreed with the MLB sportscaster as he said if there are any players currently in the majors who could draw attendance with their presence, they are Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani and Paul Skenes.

"I think right now, if people are going to games to see specific players, it's Judge, Shohei, Skenes," Plouffe said. "I don't think there's anybody else that is drawing like that."

For a 22-year-old in his first full season, that’s no small praise, being mentioned in the same category as Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani with multiple MVP titles between them.

Chris Rose presents a unique stats placing Paul Skenes in the category of elite

Chris Rose was full of praise for the Pittsburgh Pirates' starting pitcher. Paul Skenes won the NL Rookie of the Year and also worked as a starter for the NL side in the Midsummer Classic. He went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in his first year in the majors.

Rose referenced a viral statistic that puts Skenes' early-career dominance into historic perspective. Through his first 29 starts, Skenes has posted a stunning 2.06 ERA — a mark matched only by pitchers like Ed Walsh, Addie Joss, Jack Pfiester, and Smoky Joe Wood, all of whom played more than 90 years ago.

"Folks — these people haven't played in like the last 90 years. So, we have not seen this sort of out-of-the-gate pitcher. It feels like a shooting star," Rose said. "Again, we talk about that with Shohei a lot. I don't think that we're making too much out of what he has done so far. I don't know if there's another pitcher — outside of Shohei, who's his own category — that can drum up that sort of road curiosity."

This season, Skenes has made six starts, going 3-2, holding a 2.39 ERA and 0.80 WHIP along with 39 strikeouts in 37.2 innings.