Another Gem By Santana...and April Has Just Begun

Well, I got what I wished for...a finely pitched game by both starters, Johan Santana for the Mets, and John Smoltz for the Braves...and, in spite of the Mets' loss, the game gave me additional hope for the future. How, you might ask? Well, Santana and Perez have pitched gems so far, in fact two of them for Santana, and the amazing thing is that he still doesn't have his "good" stuff yet - and in spite of his first performance yesterday, I remain extremely excited over John Maine's prospects for an amazing season.

Now, think back to the great Braves' teams of the 1990's - they featured 3 amazing pitchers- Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz. I am NOT saying that our trio is in that hallowed company. However, there is still not a better 1-3 in baseball right now, and with a combo of a healthy O-Hern and, I pray, a Mike Pelfrey who somehow figures things out sooner than later, we have more than enough starting pitching to take us through the long summer. No, I didn't forget Pedro- at this point, though, I believe he will be out more like 2-3 months, rather than 2-4 weeks, so if he returns any earlier than that, I will see it as a major accomplishment and icing on the cake. In the meantime, if Santana and Perez keep up their current pace, and when Maine comes around, we still have the most dominant rotation in the National League. Now about the line-up...