Opinion

The Philadelphia Phillies' 2-1 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday was a bit of an oddity for the National League's hottest team.

It was the first time all season that the Phillies have no gotten at least 10 hits.

No matter. Their ace, Roy Halladay was on the mound, giving up one unearned run in a seven-hit, no walk, eight strikeout performance. Oh, yeah, and it was Halladay's first complete game of the season.

The Phillies pounded out six hits, featuring Jimmy Rollins's home run to start the game and a Carlos Ruiz ground-out RBI in the second inning.

Who needs the Minor Leagues? Mike Leake, that is who.

He pitched the first professional game of his career yesterday at Great American Ball Park against the Chicago Cubs.

In the first inning, he had the bases loaded with no outs, yet managed to keep his cool and leave the innings unscathed. That's what I'm talking 'bout.

He showed the poise of a veteran as he worked into the seventh inning of his pro debut. He was wild as a buck but allowed minimal damage from his control problems.

Now that the first week of the baseball season is behind us, let’s take a look at some observations from the week.

Despite starting 0-6, the Houston Astros can't be written off just yet.

Back in early April of 2005, I went to see the Astros against the New York Mets at Shea. The Astros looked horrific.

They went on to go to the World Series that year.

I am not saying the Astros are going to make the World Series, but they won’t be the worst team in baseball either.

If there is any consolation from the tough start for the 2010 Baltimore Orioles, it might simply be that they at least can’t match the start of the 1988 Birds.

Of course, that squad set a Major League Baseball record for futility by dropping its first 21 games on its way to a miserable 54-107 record.

The 2010 Orioles already have one victory, but following their three-game home sweep at the hands of the only team in the division predicted to be worse than the O’s, things are not looking bright in Baltimore.

Every single year we are amazed at how fast the first week goes, but that's part of the beauty of baseball.

It’s way too early to care about league leaders and standout performances, but there's no shame in looking, is there?

Here are the top story lines from each team during the first week of the 2010 season. 

First of all, if you didn't see, I posted my No. 3 Twins prospect for the 2010 season.

Now, on to the post...

The Twins (officially) open Target Field at 3:05 pm today against the Boston Red Sox. Carl Pavano will take the mound against southpaw Jon Lester.

Both pitchers have struggled against the opposition in the past, but it will be interesting to see what kind of momentum Pavano has in his first (real) start at Target Field.

Let's be honest. The first week of the Seattle Mariners season has been a massive disappointment.

Thus far, the offense has underwhelmed and the pitching has struggled. The defense has been stellar, but it can't swing a bat or strike a batter out; therefore it can't solve the current Mariners' dilemma.

As several fans and writers have correctly pointed out, it's too early to abandon ship. This team has talent at several key positions, the best young pitcher in the American League, and a ballpark that is built to accommodate its playing style.

The San Francisco Giants sent Buster Posey to the minor leagues insisting that the youngster needed to be behind the plate every day in order to continue his growth as a catcher.

After a nice spring training with the bat, few who know the hitting-deprived big league club questioned the wisdom of Posey being ready to hit the big leagues.

Still, with the talk about him needing to catch every day combined with a bunch of malarkey about his arbitration clock starting (or making sure it doesn't start), most seemed fine with Posey catching for the Class AAA Fresno Grizzlies.

In yet another head-scratching move, Dayton Moore & Co. have decided that Mike Aviles was the 25-man roster casualty to make room for Gil Meche, who was activated from the disabled list for his start on Sunday.

Never mind that the optioning of a position player to activate a pitcher means the Royals are now carrying 13 pitchers on the major league roster.

Never mind that Kyle Farnsworth could easily be put on the DL as he is actually injured.

Week one of the 2010 baseball season was a bit of everything for the Tampa Bay Rays. Dramatic come-from-behind wins over the Orioles, a blow out of the Yankees in game one, then finishing the home stand with two ugly defeats at the hands of the Evil Empire definitely leaves a foul taste in the Rays' mouths as they head out for a 10 game road trip.

Starting the season 3-3 at home, while playing four of the six games in front of crowds of nearly 30,000, is not what the Rays were expecting. Tampa Bay usually excels when the Trop is filled.