Photo by Ian Koski/Nats Daily News.

The Major League Baseball All-Star teams were announced yesterday, and Washington closer Matt Capps, who is tied for second in the National League in saves, will be, as of this moment, the only man wearing a Nats jersey on July 13. (Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman has the chance to beat out four other candidates in the “Final Vote” fan ballot, so he also might end up on the team.) The selection is a nice honor for Capps, who has rebounded from the double-whammy of being given up on in Pittsburgh and his father’s unexpected death to bring a tiny bit of stability to what has traditionally been a wreck of a bullpen.

But most of the focus from the baseball world is on — who else? — Stephen Strasburg, who was not selected for the National League roster. Unlike starting position players, who are selected by fans, All-Star pitchers and reserves are selected by the manager of the All-Star team, who is also the manager of each league’s pennant winner from the previous season. This year, the National League’s skipper is Charlie Manuel of the Phillies.

The debate boils down to the talking heads who think that the All-Star Game should be an exhibition of the most exciting players that the sport has to offer (read: Strasburg), and those who believe that it should be a reward for players who have posted the best statistics in the first half of that season. One could argue that Strasburg will probably have plenty of chances to play in the Midsummer Classic in his career — and so allowing him more than a handful or two of starts before he gets the nod seems like the right call.

Then again, will we be at full attention as Evan Meek of the Pirates takes the mound in Anaheim instead of a guy who can throw the ball 100 miles per hour and struck out 14 guys the first time he ever played in the major leagues? Yeah, probably not.