Pedro Martinez’s season debut only lasted 56 pitches as he limped off the mound in the 4th inning, in what appears to be a hamstring injury.  Given his age, this isn’t a good sign. He’ll fly back to New York tonight, and is scheduled for an MRI tomorrow. 

Pedro’s next start is the Mets home opener, a week from today against the Phillies.  Odds are, he’s not going to make that start. Oliver Perez will slide into the #2 spot and get the nod.

The newly favored Mets (at least since they landed Johan Santana), will miss Pedro if he does indeed miss extended time.  The team’s co-5th starters (Orlando Hernandez and Mike Pelfrey), will most likely slide into the 4th and 5th spots in the rotation.  Hernandez is currently on the disabled list, so if he’s unable to return Tony Armas, Nelson Figueroa, or Jorge Sosa would fill in the five-hole until Hernandez is able to return.

 While I don’t like to relish in a rivals injury, and I do with Pedro a speedy recovery, the weakening to the Mets pitching …

Two days into the season, the the bullpen shuffles have begun.  Although a press conference hasn’t been scheduled, reports are the Phillies have signed free agent pitcher Rudy Seanez.  Seanez, 39, is coming off one of his most productive seasons where he went 6-3 with a 3.79 ERA. 

Seanez was cut by the Dodgers toward the end of Spring Training, and given the Phillies track record it really seemed it was only a matter of time before he found himself in red pinstripes.  By recent track record, I mean overly-seasoned pitchers.  At least this year it’s not Jose Mesa or Antonio Anfonseca…Yet.

All kidding aside, I like this signing.  In Seanez’s brief history at Citzens Bank Park he’s been strong, allowing no runs in five innings, and over his sixteen-year career has allowed a home run once every 41 at-bats.

Seanez very well could find himself in the bullpen tomorrow night against the Nationals. 

The Phils will need to make a roster move in order to make room for Seanez.  The most logical choice will be to offer …

It looks as if the Eagles front office is not even considering having the best secondary in the NFL. Before they signed former Patriot Asante Samuel (46 tackles, 6 int., and 1 TD in 2007), it was rumored that Lito Sheppard (51 tackles and 2 int.) was unhappy with his contract but I’m sure he didn’t expect to be replaced. Eagles’ coach Andy Reid named Samuel the starter at the press conference announcing the signing and with Asante’s proven shutdown corner ability, Sheppard would be nice to have but his happiness is no longer important. The only thing Lito may be able to demand now is a trade, oops too late. The Eagles have already been shopping him and have heard some significant offers but are continuing to listen. A lot of teams will wait until they have completed all of their draft work before making an offer, but a deal is expected before the draft. Now, I don’t want anyone to think I’m coming down too hard on Sheppard so …

Just call me Broadway Joe as I’m going to guarantee the Phillies win tomorrow against the Washington Nationals. Sure, the bullpen scares me to death after the disastrous appearance of Tom Gordon. Sure, Rollins’s error came at the worst possible time. Sure, they couldn’t even get the runner to third when they had runners on first & second with none out.

None of that matters. Expect big things from the big boys tomorrow. Ryan Howard is going to hit one or more bombs while Chase Utley will once again contribute a couple of hits. This isn’t going to be a repeat of April 2007 because this team has too much talent.

I still expect more from the bullpen. Ryan Madson is at least a serviceable reliever and J.C. Romero was a stud a couple of years back and of course he was amazing in 2007. Brad Lidge is supposed to be healthy which will make a big difference for the back end of the bullpen.

For those expecting a “rah rah” article, here it …