What Happened to Other Rookie Pitchers Who Started All-Star Game?

Paul Skenes joined a select group of pitchers during Tuesday night’s All-Star Game.

The Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander became just the fifth rookie to start a Midsummer Classic when he pitched for the National League at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Skenes pitched one scoreless inning in the NL’s 5-3 loss to the American League.

Before Skenes, other rookies were Dave Stenhouse (1962), Mark Fidrych (1976), Fernando Valenzuela (1981) and Hideo Nomo (1995). Let’s look at how each member of that foursome’s career turned out:

Dave Stenhouse

Stenhouse finished his rookie season with the Washington Senators with an 11-12 record and a 3.65 ERA.

However, Stenhouse’s career quickly flamed out because of injuries. He pitched just two more seasons in the major leagues with the Senators and finished with a lifetime record of 16-28 and an ERA of 4.14.

Stenhouse went on to become the coach at Brown University from 1981-90. His son Mike played five seasons in the big leagues from 1982-86 as an outfielder/first baseman with the Montreal Expos and Boston Red Sox.

Mark Fidrych

The colorful Fidrych was the talk of baseball in the summer of 1976 with the Detroit Tigers. He talked to the baseball, patted the dirt on the pitcher’s mound and captivated the nation with a memorable performance against the eventual American League champion New York Yankees on ABC’s Monday Night Baseball.

“The Bird” finished his rookie season 19-9 with an AL-leading 2.34 ERA. He also completed a whopping 24 of his 29 starts.

Fidrych went 6-4 with a 2.89 ERA in 11 starts the following season before injuring his shoulder. He was never the same as he hung on with the Tigers through 1980 and wound up with a career record of 29-19 with a 3.10 ERA.

Tragically, he died at 54 in 2009 when a tractor he was working on fell on him on his farm in Northborough, Mass.

Fernando Valenzuela

Valenzuela made his major-league debut in 1980 with the Los Angeles Dodgers and did not allow an earned run in 17 innings. His rookie status still intact, the native of Mexico went 13-7 with a 2.80 ERA in 25 starts during the strike-shortened season in 1981.

The left-hander won the NL Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards and Fernandomania was born in Southern California. Valenzuela made six straight All-Star Game appearances, capped in 1986 when he went 21-11 while leading the NL in wins and complete games with 20.

The stress of throwing his patented screwball eventually took its toll on Valenzuela. He pitched for six teams before his career ended in 1997 with a 173-153 record and a 3.54 ERA.

The Dodgers retired Valenzuela’s No. 34 last year.

Hideo Nomo

Nomo was technically a rookie for the Dodgers in 1995 but had been a star pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan for six years before coming to the major leagues.

Nomomania nearly reached the heights of Fernandomania in Southern California as Nomo went 13-6 with a 2.54 ERA in 28 starts to win NL Rookie of the Year. He was never selected to another All-Star Game in his 12-year career.

Nomo won 43 games combined in his first three major-league seasons then had a resurgence from 2001-03 when he had 45 victories in three years for the Boston Red Sox and Dodgers.

Nomo pitched through the 2008 season and had a 123-109 record with a 4.24 ERA.