Source: mlb.com
Another 8:10 start tonight, as the Mets go for the season-opening series sweep. They send John Maine to the hill against *chortle* Braden Looper. Looper has made a grand total of zero starts in his big league career, which dates back to 1998 when he broke in with the Cardinals. As a reliever, Looper has a career 3.57 ERA (118 ERA+), which doesn't necessarily make him a terrific candidate to become a starter. Then again, working exclusively in relief for eight full seasons before making your first career start isn't really a terrific idea in the first place. Of course, last season mediocre starting pitchers were like kryptonite to the Mets' offense, so maybe Drunky McSleepsalot is on to something here.
The Mets already have the series in hand, so a win tonight would be gravy. Also, if Looper makes it out of this start with an ERA lower than 9 I think I'll be really disappointed in this offense.