Scott Carson

Stats man Scott Carson is now in his 18th season as "third man in the booth" during Blue Jays telecasts.

Nats rookie Stephen Strasburg.

A rookie with only 5 career starts on his resume has made a case for being at the Midsummer Classic.

With the MLB All-Star game set for Angels Stadium in Anaheim in two weeks, there is much debate going on in the U.S. media about whether Washington Nationals superstar phenom Stephen Strasburg should be chosen to appear in the MLB All-Star game despite the fact that he has only made five major league starts. Normally my answer would be no based on the fact that, if he's going to be as great as everyone predicts then he will make multiple all-star appearances over his career.

But in this case, the answer should be yes.

No player/pitcher has arrived with such hype and anticipation and lived up to it like Strasburg has. Five starts in, he's 2-2, with a 2.27 ERA and 48 punch outs in just 31.2 innings of work. His 13.6 strikeouts per 9 innings are three better than any starter in the majors. Sportsnet play-by-play man Buck Martinez has seen Strasburg pitch in person and he had nothing but praise for the 21-year old. Great pitcher, even better person. That's good enough for me. Just the type of player this game should market around and appearing in the All-Star game would give him maximum exposure, if that's possible based on how the media has been reporting on his every move since his college career began.

Stars in their eyes?

It's time to debate which Blue Jays players/pitchers should represent the team. The fact that no one on the fans’ ballot is even close to the top, due to low home attendance and Canadian-based players getting little attention south of the border, it's likely that just one Blue Jay will get the call.

If they had been able to replicate their numbers from a year ago, where at this time of the season they had combined to hit .306 with 34 home runs and 108 RBI, Aaron Hill and/or Adam Lind would be the obvious choices. But the dramatic drop-off in their production makes them both non-factors.

Vernon Wells, who has bounced back from injury to post power and extra-base hit numbers near the top of the league, will be the likely choice among the high-profile Jays.

Jose Bautista is tied for the A.L. lead in home runs, but his .234 batting average isn't even close to being all-star calibre. But just a year ago, Tampa Bay's Carlos Pena was named an all-star reserve with just a .228 average at the break, so that might help his cause.

Defensive wizard Alex Gonzalez has an outside chance. He leads all A.L. shortstops with 14 HR and 40 RBI but Elvis Andrus of the Rangers, Erick Aybar of the Angels and Marco Scutaro of the Red Sox are more high-profile with the media.

Of the pitchers who might get the nod, Shaun Marcum and Ricky Romero are the obvious choices. Marcum has bounced back fully from injury to become the staff ace and stopper, posting a 7-2 record this season in starts following a Blue Jays loss. Romero has taken his game to the next level, becoming one of the top left-handed starters in the league. Both deserve serious consideration.

Time to give Interleague more weight

The 2010 Interleague portion of the schedule has come and gone and, once again, the American League prevailed 134-118. Clearly this format is not going to go away any time soon, based on the comments coming out of the commissioner's office. So why not give the league that wins the most games in Interleague home field advantage in the World Series instead of the current rule that the winner of the All-Star game gets that post-season advantage. I've always thought it’s ridiculous that the winner of an exhibition game, where a parcel of the players are chosen in a popularity contest, decides home advantage for baseball's ultimate prize.

Around the horn

How many more times does Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano have to blow a gasket and embarrass his team before they finally just cut the cord and release him? It's not like they've won anything with him and, quite frankly, he's not even one of the top pitchers in the game…

Finally, some good news for the Red Sox: all-star 2B Dustin Pedroia does not require surgery on the fracture in his left foot. But he will be out for at least six weeks and when he returns, the Sox might be too far out in the ultra-competitive A.L. East to get back in it.