Opening Day Disappointment

And so it begins. Can't say I'm surprised that the Marlins were thoroughly dominated by a better Mets team in front of a pro-Mets crowd. Johan Santana is a better pitcher than most of our players have ever faced and the Mets' lineup is a tough challenge for a marginal starting pitcher like Mark Hendrickson.

Hanley didn't get off to a good start, but it was to be expected. I wonder how much he can actually do this year now that he isn't being protected by Miguel Cabrera. He literally has nobody else in the lineup who can be considered a consistent offensive threat to take the pressure off of him. I don't see him carrying this team the way Barry Bonds could carry the Giants earlier this decade. It's unfortunate, particularly for my lackluster fantasy team.

Aside from a 2-run shot to left field by Josh Willingham (hadn't hit one all Spring and he decides to start against Johan Santana? nice), the Marlins had no offense of which to speak of and couldn't recover from a 4th inning shellacking of starter Mark Hendrickson. Speaking of which, if Hendrickson is really supposed to be our longterm #1 guy this year, then Marlins fans are in for a world of hurt. He didn't look good at all today, missing his pitches all over the place. The 3 run double to David Wright was a fastball right over the plate. He's lucky it wasn't smashed out of the ballpark.

I stick by my prediction of 68 wins. I don't see this season being any different than last year's for Florida. In fact, with all the injuries to our once promising pitching staff, I wouldn't be surprised if we did a lot worse than last year's 71 victories.