Falling Apart at the Seams

Before the season began, many were favoring the Mets and Braves over the Phillies simply because of their superior pitching staffs, particularly in the area of starting rotations.

On paper, there is no doubt, those rotations are better than what the Phillies are offering.  But it's a 162-game season, a war of attrition almost, and there was no way I felt that those two staffs would remain healthy enough to be the huge advantage pundits were expecting them to be.

Now, less than a week into the season, there have already been significant losses by those two teams.  For the Braves, Chuck James and John Smoltz began the season on the disabled list and even though Smoltz has been a healthy pitcher in recent years, he is, after all, on the wrong side of 40.  The Braves are also hoping to rely on Mike Hampton, and guess what, he's already hurt and headed to the disabled list.  I know, I know, hard to believe.  Look up "durability" in the dictionary and there's Mike Hampton's smiling face.

As for the Mets, in another shocker, Pedro Martinez is expected to miss 4-6 weeks after suffering a "mild" hamstring strain.  I'd hate to see how much time he would miss with a "moderate" strain.

Yes, the Phillies have their problems, but don't think their primary competition is going to breeze through the season to October.