1. Joba Chamberlain makes his first start. He's been unbelievable as a set up guy for Mariano, and he's still only been in the big leagues for a few months. You have to believe he's going to blow everyone away the first time through the lineup. It will be interesting to see what happens the second and third time through the order, though. He will have to be effective with his pitches b/c of his pitch count. That would worry me a lot considering they have no replacement for him in the bullpen. If he pitches Monday, it'll be in Minnesota, and his father might be there. If he pitches Tuesday, it will be against Roy Halladay. That would be an interesting matchup. 2. Pedro Martinez returns Tuesday against San Francisco. He said he was excited to be part of such a great 1-2 punch with Johan. Then he was done for two months after 4 innings. Everyone says Willie Randolph doesn't show enough fire. Hopefully the players won't appear to be so "bored" and "uninterested" now that Pedro will be in the dugout again. He's only had one full year with the Mets. He needs to make at least 5 or 6 starts before he makes another trip to the DL. Assuming he starts Tuesday, he'll be pitching against my boy Zito. Barry has been pitching well since his return from the pen, so he deserves some props. The Giants have been playing well (they just swept the Diamondbacks), so I'm assuming it will be a competitive series. Oliver Perez against Jonathan Sanchez should be a great matchup for half of the game on Monday. 3. The Red Sox host the Rays. Should be an interesting matchup between the teams with the two of the three best records in baseball. It's just too bad the Red Sox aren't on the road for this one. They've been dominant at home and subpar on the road. They luck out there and they luck out in missing Kazmir this time around. 4. NL Surprise Florida faces Philly over the weekend and then Atlanta during the week. Philly is only a half game back, Atlanta is only two out. The Mets have also shown some signs of life, so the Marlins are going to have to pick it up.
I'll be keeping my eye on the Red Sox Rays match up. I think the Sox will win the series. Should be a good one.
There already is a lot of hype around Joba, I hope he comes out and dominates. The kid is just amazing. I think the Yanks' confirmed he will pitch Tuesday. I got the Sox over the Rays...that pains me to say that. The Rays have been a really nice surprise this year. I couldn't believe they swept my Halos. I expect the Marlins to tail off here, soon.
