Opening Day or open season?

Rough outings for aces raise questions about their futures

False start: Pedro Martinez was tagged for eight runs and nine hits in three innings. AP

By Dan George, CNNSI.com

Thank goodness for Randy Johnson and Tom Glavine.

On an Opening Day in which Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens and Mike Hampton all got knocked around as if they were ... well, pitching for the Rangers, Johnson and Glavine were an oasis of reliability on Monday.

Picking up where he left off last fall against the Yankees, the Big Unit got the defending World Series champion Diamondbacks off to a good start in 2002 by outdueling Kevin Jarvis with a six-hit, eight-strikeout 2-0 victory over the Padres. The Braves' Glavine, meanwhile, filled in admirably as an emergency replacement for the injured Greg Maddux, stopping the Phillies 6-2.

Elsewhere, the hitters were ahead of the pitchers. Way ahead. Martinez gave up seven earned runs in three innings against the Blue Jays. The lowly Orioles pummeled Clemens, last year's AL Cy Young Award winner, for eight in 4 1/3, all of it after he took a hard groundball off his pitching hand. The Rockies' Hampton surrendered six runs in 3 2/3 to the Cardinals -- and they weren't even playing in Coors Field!

What's it all mean? Well, in Pedro's case, that he's still a long way from being the same pitcher he was before last season's shoulder problems (as if his 6.64 spring ERA wasn't a hint). In Hampton's case, that he's still a long way from being the same pitcher he was in with the Mets. And in Clemens' case, that, uh, well, he is going to be 40 in August.

But regardless, we're just glad it's Opening Day (even if the Indians and Angels did jump the gun Sunday). Let's play ball!

CNNSI.com's Power Rankings
Rank	LW		Team
1	1		New York Yankees Sure, it's only one game, but any day Rondell White gets through unscathed is cause for rejoicing.
2	2		Seattle Mariners We may find out quickly how they compare to last season. Their opening schedule against the AL West could be murderous.
3	5		Arizona Diamondbacks Erubiel Durazo's broken wrist is good news for Mark Grace's playing time. Less so for the D'backs' offense.
4	3		Oakland Athletics Is Jeremy Giambi's red-hot spring a sign of things to come?
5	6		Atlanta Braves Opening Day homers by newcomers Gary Sheffield and Vinny Castilla. Nice way to say hello, guys.
6	4		St. Louis Cardinals Mike Matheny and Mike DiFelice as tag-team catchers? It's either a brilliant move by LaRussa ... or something else.
7	8		Houston Astros If Roy Oswalt's spring is any indication -- 3 ER in 31 IP -- Jimy Williams probably just got a little smarter.
8	9		New York Mets Oh if only every day were Opening Day. The Mets' 26-15 record in season openers is tops in the majors.
9	7		Chicago White Sox The way they hit this spring -- .341 team average -- you'd think they were facing their pitching -- 7.82 ERA.
10	11		Cleveland Indians Nobody's going to care how old Bartolo Colon is if he keeps pitching like that.
11	10		San Francisco Giants Damon Minor made the team after hitting seven HRs and batting .408. And he didn't fall off a motorcycle.
12	12		Minnesota Twins Is it too early to get excited about Kyle Lohse and his 1.13 Grapefruit League ERA?
13	14		Los Angeles Dodgers Jesse Orosco, who'll be 45 in three weeks, is back in the bigs again. Oh, to be left-handed!
14	13		Boston Red Sox Pedro's Opening Day, uh, performance -- 3 IP, 9H, 7 ER, 2 BB -- has gotta go down as one of the ugliest no-decisions ever.
15	15		Chicago Cubs Is Antonio Alfonseca a better closer than Tom Gordon? We'll have a better idea when Don Baylor actually decides to use him.
16	16		Philadelphia Phillies Pat Burrell could be on the verge of a big, big year.
17	17		Texas Rangers Two problems: Jeff Zimmerman has a bad elbow. And John Rocker does not.
18	18		San Diego Padres First, phenom Sean Burroughs gets hurt. Then, they draw Randy Johnson in the opener. An early character test for the Padres.
19	21		Colorado Rockies Ben Petrick and Gary Bennett as tag-team catchers? Well, at least neither of them is Mike DeFelice.
20	20		Toronto Blue Jays Shannon Stewart is DHing, Jose Cruz Jr. is playing left, and neither is especially happy about it.
21	19		Anaheim Angels The Halos should be better this season. But starting Benji Gil at first base is not the way to do it.
22	23		Detroit Tigers We know this comes as a shock, but Dean Palmer is back on the DL.
23	26		Kansas City Royals They move up simply because they actually managed to sign someone -- Mike Sweeney -- to a long-term contract.
24	22		Florida Marlins We're not exactly sure what 42-year-old Tim Raines being on the Opening Day roster says about them, but we suspect it's not good.
25	25		Milwaukee Brewers Jeffrey Hammonds isn't on the DL yet, which we suppose is a good thing.
26	24		Cincinnati Reds Joey Hamilton was the Opening Day starter. Thus they slip from 24th.
27	27		Baltimore Orioles Nothing official from Mike Hargrove -- that's the way he is -- but it appears the Jorge Julio era has begun in Baltimore.
28	29		Tampa Bay Devil Rays They came out of Monday's games not in last place. Of course, they don't play until Tuesday.
29	28		Pittsburgh Pirates Brian Giles misses Opening Day after straining a muscle in his side during batting practice. If he can't stay healthy, they could finish in Altoona.
30	30		Montreal Expos The good news is that Henry Rodriguez is back. The bad news is that it's no longer 1996.

 

Related information
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From SI: Fearless predictions Week at a Glance: A swing and a miss CNNSI.com's Donovan: A Season Ahead Statitudes: Opening Day 2002, By the Numbers Power Rankings: Yankees open season at No. 1
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