Braves Necks Remain Footprint Free

As Newsday's headline captured it perfectly, yesterday was more like Lemon Time than Lima Time. Nevertheless, the Braves fans around here are mighty quiet. When you start reading quotes from John Smoltz like this...

"If we get double digits down, we're not going to come back," Smoltz said. "As it is right now, it's almost a hard trek for us to crawl back into this.

...you know the Braves are sweating. But with the Mets final two spots in the rotation being, for all intents and purposes, empty, the Mets get a well-timed day off, not only allowing the front end of the rotation to face the charging Phillies this week, but also leaving them five full days to figure out who to plug in those spots. Here's a rundown of the probable starters over the next couple weeks:

Tuesday, May 9th at Philadelphia - Pedro Martinez. Billy Wagner has used the day off to stir up some controversy with his old club. Hopefully he'll get a chance to shut up the Philly crowd and make up for blowing a save in Petey's last start.

Wednesday, May 10th at Philly - Glavine. (uh, oh. Tommy has an extra day's rest. Prepare to read between the lines of articles for some whining. Sort of surprised Petey and Tommy don't get flip-flopped for these starts)

Thursday, May 11th at. Philly - Trachsel. As Kranepool writes, Mr. "Maybe I should have thrown a no-hitter" Steve Trachsel has to step it up for this game.

Friday, May 12th and Saturday May 13th at Milwaukee - Here's where things get dicey. Do the Mets call "Time Out" on Lima, or do they give him the ball again? Jeremi Gonzalez is available in AAA, and will likely get one of the spots, while Pelfrey and Soler are available in AA. As for trade candidates, the Dodgers' Perez is available, and The Daily News's Adam Rubin has a funny rundown of the "other" candidates to take a spot in the Mets rotation.

Sunday, May 14th at Milwaukee - If Petey goes tomorrow, he'll get this spot, but then Glavine would have to wait until Wednesday the 16th to pitch vs St. Louis, again on extra day's rest. Glavine likes going every five, and the Mets usually prefer to give Martinez the extra rest, so I still speculate they'll flip-flop these guys.

Monday, May 15th - Off

Tuesday, May 16th at St. Louis - Glavine or Pedro
Wednesday, May 17th at St. Louis - Trachsel
Thursday, May 18th at St. Louis - Lima/Bannister/Gonzalez/Soler/Dontrelle Willis

And that's when the Yankees come to town...

Friday, May 19th vs. NYY - Glavine or Daddy
Saturday, May 20th vs. NYY - Big Gaping Hole In The Rotation Right Here
Sunday, May 19th vs. NYY - Glavine or Daddy

The Mets get another day off before a three game set with Philadelphia. Obviously these next fifteen games should tell us everything we need to know about these Mets.