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It is more common with college pitchers, but usually if a guy is pitching in the majors less than a calendar year after he's drafted it's in a relief role. Andrew Miller was pitching for Detroit in September of the year he was drafted, but I believe that's because it was written into his contract that Detroit was forced to bring him up (not surprisingly Miller's a Boras guy).
The Nationals could take that route with Strasburg, waiting to call him up until September when they wouldn't have to worry about his arby clock starting, and then send him back down to the minors to start next year. It'd be a decent way to see how he fares against big league pitching, not to mention it might actually get people to the ballpark if they think there's a chance they could see the franchise's savior on any given day.
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