NL East

Thus far into the season, the Braves have continued their offensive woes from the run-challenged 2009 summer.

Only Martin Prado, Brian McCann, and Jason Heyward have been better than league average.

Those three have been more than impressive, but the lack of production from the rest of the lineup is starting to be a concern. While nine games is not an appropriate sample size, the team should be hitting better than they currently are.

Let's take a look at the production of the three aforementioned players compared to the rest of the team.

The Mets went into this past offseason with the intention of upgrading their pitching staff but came away deciding to stand pat with the five they had.

They justified it by saying that those same pitchers they currently had were all pitchers that had had success in Flushing in the past and that they would again in the future.

The Colorado Rockies spent six weeks in Tucson stressing fundamentals. Through the first nine games of the season they look like they spent their time in Tucson at the golf course.

Philadelphia Phillies players make manager Charlie Manuel look like a genius time after time.

The latest blow to the defending National League champions was leadoff man Jimmy Rollins landing on the 15-day disabled list due to a strained calf muscle.

No problem.

Juan Castro filled in nicely at leadoff in the first game without Rollins. In a 7-4 win on Monday against Washington, he hit an RBI double.

Castro had to lead off because Rollins' name was already on the lineup card. Rollins was pulled shortly before the start of the game.

A win is a win.

There has been a lot of talk in the streets, on talk radio, and on the interwebs today about John Maine and whether or not the Mets should keep him in the rotation.

If you read my article from earlier today, you know that I would like to see Maine get at least one more start, so I won’t get into that again.

What we should talk about is if Maine is removed from the rotation, who would take his place?

It would be easy to look at Monday’s ugly 17-2 loss to the Padres and panic.

But, I won’t.

Every team over the course of a long 162-game season endures an embarrassing and lopsided loss.

It just happens.

There is often no rhyme or reason as to why, but on any given night a pitcher’s poor misfortune is an offense’s playground.  For Jair Jurrjens and the Atlanta Braves, that night was Monday.  They were such victims of the Padres shelling at Petco Park for San Diego’s home opener.

Anticipation grew as the players exited the tunnel Monday to enter Citizens Bank Park to mark the 2010 Philadelphia Phillies' home opener against the Washington Nationals.

Above, Jimmy Rollins, the longest-tenured player among the Phillies, enters among adoring fans.

Moments later, however, a hush grew among the gathered fans.

Juan Castro, not Jimmy Rollins, took the field at shortstop.

Not since Lenny Dysktra broke his wrist on Opening Day many years ago did such a key member of the team go down on Opening Day.

The two-time defending National League champions have gotten off to another fast start, going 6-1 in their first seven games.

Of course, it helps that they have started their season off against the Washington Nationals twice and the Houston Astros. They could be the two worst teams in the National League.

Regardless, the Phillies don’t make the schedule, and the way they are hitting, they probably would have beaten anyone.

Let’s see what else is going on with the team from the City of Brotherly Love.

Yes, the Braves truly got their hats handed to them this evening, with a 17-2 crushing at the hands of the San Diego Padres. However, Braves fans should take heart, because as bad as this beating seemed, in the great scheme of things, it's only one game out of 162, and no matter how badly you lose, it counts in the standings just as much as a 3-2 heart breaker.

Besides, it's no worse then some of the other defeats the Braves have suffered over the years. Want proof?

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