What did we learn on Opening Day (the third of the season)? Well Houston probably won't hit again this year, and maybe the Padres will. The Padres struggled a bit getting guys in again, which is nothing new, and the bullpen sparkled as usual.
The Giants are probably as bad as expected and Zito has a long way to go (either to get back on track or to finish up his massive contract). The Dodgers had a nice showing (against the worst National League team), as did Arizona and Brandon Webb.
The Diamondbacks pitching is going to be really tough and give the Padres a run for the staff of the year. Webb put four guys on for free and another three by way of hits, on his way to 2 earned runs and win #1. Not exactly dominant, but more than enough.
The Rockies and Jeff Francis didn't start the day out too well before getting bailed out by the rain. I wouldn't be suprised if some of last year's pitching heroes fade this year, but that is coming from a biased point of view. I think the Rockies are the one pretender team of the West. They had a great run in the playoffs last year, but they had to win out, get a few losses, and a bogus call just to get into the dance. Not exactly means for a high ranking in the subsequent year.
I don't think you can take much more from opening day than you can from Spring Training, but it looks like it will be a good year for the NL West. Here are your standings after a day.
| Team | Wins | Losses | Win Pct | GB |
| Padres | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | - |
| Dodgers | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | - |
| Dbacks | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | - |
| Rockies | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.5 |
| Giants | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 1 |
