Day one of the post-Manny world was rocky for his Dodgers. The good news was that they scored nine runs. The bad news was that that was only against the lowly Nationals, and it wasn’t enough runs to win. There’s not much in that game that can be blamed on the loss of Manny directly, and we didn’t learn that much, but losing to the Nats is never a good thing.
Arizona Diamondbacks – 86.5 - I am all over the under here. A lot of people like this team this year, but I am not one of them. Beyond Brandon Webb I don’t trust their pitching, and there is a fair bit of the lineup that doesn’t excite me. They will be a solid team, but this is too many wins for them.
Cincinnati Reds – 78.5 – I wanted to be optimistic about this team. They have a lot of talent that is easy to like. I just think this number is too big, though. If it was 72.5 I would be all over the over, but this seems ambitious. I’d probably lay off entirely here, but if I had to take a side I would go under.
Colorado Rockies – 77.5 – This number is silly. They are going to have pitching problems, and they will seriously miss Jeff Francis. Todd Helton is getting old, and the rest of the starters have a lot to prove. I will be very surprised if they go anywhere close to this number, never mind going over.
There is a very interesting pitching match-up in Arizona tonight. Two hot teams – the Phillies and the Diamondbacks clash with two pitchers at opposite ends of their careers. Jamie Moyer is older than the dirt he’ll be standing on on the mound, while Max Scherzer is a young phenom making his second MLB appearance and first start. Scherzer is 23. When he was born Moyer was a Cubs prospect in the New York – Penn League.
I’m sitting here watching the Diamondbacks pound the life out of the Giants. That’s not much of an accomplishment, of course – I could take all the guys that live on my block and probably play the Giants tight. What is pretty clear, though, is that the D-Backs are a pretty fine team. I’m not exactly going out on a limb to say that – the win they are pretty much guaranteed to get this afternoon will move them to 10-4, which is the best record in the league (tied with the surprising Cardinals if they beat Milwaukee tonight). Unlike some of the teams that have jumped out to fast starts (that means you, Baltimore), Arizona has the look of a team that will be there until the end. This doesn’t come as a huge surprise – they are the third choice in the National League behind the Cubs and the Mets to win the World Series in the futures market.
