Stephen Strasburg: All Star

During Saturday's Phillies broadcast (please, hold your vomit) apparently Buck and McCarver (please, hold your vomit) were talking about the possibility of Stephen Strasburg making the All-Star Game.

Shhhh! I can hear your scoffing all the way from here!

But, as crazy as the idea of throwing a rookie with just a handful of starts to his career out there, there IS precedent for it.

Picture it. The hazy days of 2003. Our beloved team was being led by Jose Vidro in some far-away place called Canadia. Montreal, specifically. Though this is supposedly a real city, we all know better. It was in those halcyon days that a Mr. Dontrelle Willis broke through, twisting, turning, lunging, and gawkily throwing the ball to the plate.

The D-Train didnt leave the minor-league station 'til early May. But once there, he won. And won. And won again. When the All-Star break came, Mr. Willis was 8-1. And who got named a reserve (after the media basically campaigned for him)? Hey, you guessed right. It WAS Dontrelle. Gosh, you're smart!

He was 8-1 with an amazing 1.81 ERA. Though he'd cool off in the second half, it was still good enough for the ROY.

So there's precedent for a rookie who starts the year in the minors to make it to the game. Strasburg would be on the low end, but given his pedigree, and the buzz surrounding him, it makes a whole lotta sense. If he keeps up on rotation, he'll have a total of 7 starts under his belt. Would 5-0 be enough? 6-1?

If he's 5-0 at the break with a 2.50 ERA and 60 strikeouts, he makes it, doesn't he? He may not have the MLB track record, but given how many jerseys he sold in the Great Lakes' armpit, he's certainly one of its biggest stars.