ARLINGTON -- The last time a rookie started on the mound in the MLB All-Star Game was 29 years ago, when Dodgers phenom Hideo Nomo was the starting pitcher for the National League in the 1995 Midsummer Classic.

The next one to do so will take the ball for the NL tonight (8 p.m. ET, FOX) in the 2024 MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard. And he¡¯ll do it in the same city on which Nomomania descended nearly three decades ago.

Paul Skenes has more in common with Nomo than the categorical bond that will link them forever in All-Star history. Like Nomo, Skenes has become a must-see sensation -- the baseball world can¡¯t get enough of the 22-year-old flamethrower as he prepares to face a stacked American League lineup at Globe Life Field.

And who could blame it? Just a year after being selected first overall by the Pirates in the MLB Draft, here Skenes is, on the cusp of starting in the most star-studded game on the MLB calendar. It's an ascension that few, if any, saw coming -- even for one of the greatest pitching prospects we¡¯ve ever seen.

Not even Skenes himself imagined such a rapid rise.

¡°I didn¡¯t necessarily think I¡¯d be here,¡± Skenes said during Monday¡¯s All-Star press conference, adding that he is ¡°super-grateful to have the opportunity to start.¡±

Nomo felt much the same way back in 1995, saying via email that his ¡°goal was to pitch in MLB, so [he] did not even think about making the All-Star team.¡±

Nomo¡¯s calling cards were his signature windup that earned him the nickname ¡°Tornado¡± and a devastating forkball that left opposing batters looking silly and shaking their heads on the way back to the dugout.

Skenes, meanwhile, has an absolutely incredible arm, one that unleashed 75 pitches at or above 100 mph over his 11 career starts to this point. The highest velocity he has dialed up during his young career is 101.9 mph with the fastball, but as Nomo did, Skenes has a nasty weapon other than his four-seamer -- it¡¯s a combination of sinker and slider that has been dubbed a ¡°splinker.¡±

¡°I had a sinker grip I was throwing last year at LSU,¡± Skenes said. ¡°Kind of started fooling around with it between when the college season wrapped up and when I was going to report to the complex for the Draft. ... Started throwing it and got command over it. The last part was throwing it to hitters and seeing how they react to it.¡±

The reaction was one of utter bewilderment. With his overwhelming arsenal, Skenes has struck out 89 batters over his 11 starts. Only four pitchers in AL/NL history dating back to at least 1901 had more over their first 11 appearances.

Twenty-two of Skenes¡¯ strikeouts came over two brilliant outings in which he threw at least six no-hit innings. Since at least 1901, only Nolan Ryan had turned in multiple performances of at least six no-hit innings and 11 strikeouts in the same season (1973).

Nomo has been enthralled watching Skenes along with the rest of us.

¡°Skenes has good stuff and very high ability,¡± Nomo said. ¡°Not too many players make the Major Leagues so soon after the Draft.¡±

Or the All-Star Game. The numbers that landed Skenes in Arlington have been eye-popping. They¡¯re also very similar in many categories to the first-half stats that Nomo produced in ¡¯95:

Nomo in 1995: 13 starts, 1.99 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 11.9 K/9

Skenes in 2024: 11 starts, 1.90 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 12.1 K/9

Nomo and Skenes both accomplished a great deal in just the first half of their rookie campaigns. But they certainly went about it in different ways.

¡°I can¡¯t compare myself with Skenes,¡± Nomo said. ¡°He has much higher velocity and movement in his pitches.¡±

Maybe so. But Nomo¡¯s forkball produced more than its share of awkward and empty swings when he joined the Majors from Nippon Professional Baseball in ¡¯95. It looked good in that year¡¯s All-Star Game, too.

Nomo said he felt a combination of quiet jubilance and nervousness when he stepped onto the field at the Ballpark in Arlington on July 11, a typically sweltering Texas summer day.

¡°I was so happy and honored to be on the All-Star mound,¡± Nomo said. ¡°Since it was my first year, I didn¡¯t know anything. I just threw to [catcher Mike] Piazza's mitt.¡±

It worked out well for Nomo, who tossed two scoreless frames with strikeouts of Kenny Lofton, Edgar Martinez and Albert Belle in a 3-2 NL victory.

As Skenes prepares to be at the center of the baseball world tonight, Nomo has some advice for him. And considering the parallels between them, Nomo¡¯s words hold weight.

¡°Enjoy the All-Star Game,¡± Nomo said. ¡°And remember it as one of your best experiences.¡±