Should Stephen Strasburg be on the NL All Star Team?

My answer? Only if the National League wants to win. Only if the National League is serious about winning. Only if the National League wants to put their best players on the field. Strasburg is indeed an All Star. He belongs on the team.

The debate continues in baseball circles about Stasburg and the National League All Star roster. Does he belong> Some say he hasn't pitched enough games and logged enough innings to even be considered, let alone be chosen. They feel it would be an insult to the deserving pitcher who gets left off.

No, Strasburg has not been around long. But in his four major league starts to date, he has been dominant. Dominant. Today he yielded 9 hits to the Kansas City Royals. Some were solid, some were not. He gave up one earned run. Here are his numbers thru four starts; 2-1 with one no decision, ERA of 1.78, 41 Ks and 5 walks, 0.95 Whip. Not bad for a rookie. Not bad for a 10 year veteran.

Strasburg missed out on a possible win when Roger Bernadina was thrown out at the plate on a controversial play. Bernadina looked safe on every replay I have seen. If he had scored, the go ahead run would have been on third with one fewer out. As it is, the Nationals never really fashioned much of an offensive threat against Brian Bannister and the Royals bullpen.

If Jay Bruce ever really gets hot it could provide a huge boost to the Reds. And it looks like Bruce may be on simmer right now heading for boil. Brandon Phillips hitting cleanup for the Reds? They have so many ways to win.

Speaking of heating up. How about Howie Kendrick's past 10 games. Power, average and runs batted in during a stretch when he hit .419. That's happening while Robby Cano is cooling down a bit. What do owners do who have Kendrick, Cano, and Prado in a Challenge League? Ask me. I don't have the answer yet but I have until Sunday to figure it out.

How about Miguel Olivo having more home runs as of Wednesday evening than Tulo, VMart and ARod. Olivo hit his 10th.

Think the Cubs aren't in trouble? If Aramis ever gets back on the field he will be carrying a .168 batting average with him over 179 at-bats. Lots of people counted on him for big numbers. None more than Lou.

Watching what the new owners do with the Cubs front office and playing personnel should be a great off-season sport. It was Jim Hendry who gave Milton Bradley and Alfonso, etc. all the money. But it was also Jim Hendry who got Seattle to take Bradley off his hands and give him Carlos Silva in return. That's sort of a wash, right? Cubs situation is getting serious. Especially to Chicagoans.

It's tough to watch Dontrelle Willis. He needs a good GPS system to find the plate. 7 walks in 2.1 innings pitched. The Tigers gave up Nate Robertson to keep him. Then they released him and the DBacks picked him up.

Delmon Young is having an outstanding season. But nobody knows about it. Young is beginning to realize some of his potential for being a very good contact hitter.

I'm sure the Diamondbacks have noticed that Conor Jackson is hitting .345 in 9 games for Oakland. I remember telling Jeff and Chris on their outstanding Serius/XM fantasy radio show that I thought his bat was coming to life just before he was traded. He's just a solid, line drive hitter.

Credit should be given to David Wright and Jose Reyes for waking up the Mets offense. That's what good health will do for good hitters. But the pitching has been outstanding. Even though he isn't striking guys out like he once did, Santana can still do the job. But Niese, Peltry, Dickey and Takahashi are an upgrade from the likes of John Maine and Oliver Perez. Who knew A.J. Dickey could be such a positive factor? But we need to see him do it a little more before we buy the Kool Aid.

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I think you should keep your eye on Sam Demel. I know I can't have it both ways. Can't say the DBacks shouldn't have gotten rid of Conor Jackson and then praise Sam Demel. I'm just saying keep your eye on Sam Demel. He's probably the only viable arm the team has in the bullpen other than Aaron Heilman.

I don't know how much playing time he'll get, but Colin Curtis might be a bat for you to consider in AL only leagues. He has a good bat, good speed and some pop. He drove the ball to the deepest part of Chase Field in his first two big league at-bats. One went for an extra base hit, the other was caught.

So far this week, Tommy Hanson, Justin Verlander, and Ubaldo Jimenez have been roughed up. A week like this from those three and your season can take a very bad turn for the worse. Hanson and Jimenez are two-start pitchers. Yikes! Clayton Kershaw was no prize either.

Wow, are the days just flying by and I'm not paying attention, or wasn't Cla Merideth a stud not too long ago? Released today.

Kerry Wood coughed up another game tonight. Oh well, the Indians are so good they can afford to keep Michael Brantley and Matt LaPorta in the minor leagues "to get at-bats." If ticket sales were dismal in Cleveland this year, what will it be like in 2011?