Opinion

By the time the New York Mets get through with Stephen Strasburg and the Washington Nationals this weekend they will be exactly half way through their 162-game regular season schedule.

As we near the mid point of the season, let's revisit five questions the Mets had coming into the season.

Nine walk-off losses this year for the Diamondbacks. They have come in all shapes and sizes. There have been extra inning losses that just come from a simple base hit. There have been game-ending home runs.

Some have been a bit more absurd. There was a game ending in a balk. Last night, two throwing errors led to three runs to score, ruining an otherwise stellar start by Dan Haren. It was a horrible loss to suffer, one that prompted Cardinal player Skip Schumaker to say, "You don't see mistakes like that much in the big leagues."

Major League Baseball will announce the All-Star rosters on Sunday, and there has beenmuch debate about whether or not Washington Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg, deserves to be a member of the National League team.

Those who want Strasburg in the All-Star game mention that he has been dominant in four of his five starts and point to his 2.27 ERA and 48 strikeouts in just 31.2 innings pitched. But, that last stat is exactly why the Nationals' starting pitcher does not deserve to be a 2010 National League All-Star.

The Mid-Summer Classic is an event that baseball celebrates to determine the better of the two leagues.

So far this season we have seen outstanding pitching, especially in the National League. For this reason, I would like to list the five most-deserving pitchers to start this years' Mid-Summer Classic.

Here we go. Hope you enjoy!

Begin Slideshow

The "Phil Hughes Rules" have claimed their first start, which would have been last Friday. Those same rules have also claimed their first loss as the Yankees fell to the Mariners 7-4. 

When Oakland Athletics fans (well, the ones that are left) walk into the Oakland Coliseum, they see a third deck covered in forest green tarp (not because of rain but because it makes the rest of the stadium "look more packed") and a team full of super...who's?

Since 2000, the A's have won the Western Division four times and the wild card once.

But since 2006, the low-budget ball club has yet to make the playoffs and seem poised for another run ending on October 3 against fellow division bottom feeder, Seattle.

Simply call it perfect timing.

It's only fitting that MLB's first Puerto Rican-born manager stood in Hiram Bithorn Stadium for baseball's return to the island.

Edwin Rodriguez's story, though uncertain with the mystery surrounding who will be the Florida Marlins' permanent manager, is a good one. 

He lives five minutes from the stadium.

More than 150 people greeted him at the airport and began chanting his name when the Marlins arrived.

On Monday afternoon, Chicago Cubs GM Jim Hendry announced that starting/relief/not-really pitcher Carlos Zambrano would enter some form of treatment program and would be placed on baseball's "restricted list" until after the All-Star break.

Restricted? Does he have to trade his boxers for briefs for the next three weeks?

Ubaldo Jimenez has a great start to the 2010 campaign, where he has a 14-1 record to go along with a 1.83 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. It measures up against many of the great pitching starts to any individual season.

But how does it measure up against the start of one of the greatest pitching seasons of the modern era: The 22-9, 1.12 ERA, 0.853 WHIP, 258 ERA-plus of Bob Gibson's 1968 campaign?

A month ago, the White Sox were clear sellers. After a sudden resurgence, they have become possible buyers.

On June 8 the White Sox were 24-33 and 9.5 games back of the Minnesota Twins. A reported yelling match between GM Kenny Williams and manager Ozzie Guillen occurred that same night.

The White Sox went on to win 15 of their next 16 games and currently sit two games back in the division behind the Detroit Tigers.