Opening Day Predictions: National League

In an effort to prove that I do listen to comments on the blog, I've been thinking about Opening Day. Today I'll cover the National League:
Washington Nationals at Philadelphia Phillies. Shawn Hill vs. Brett Myers. Myers got the nod over Cole Hamels because Charlie Manuel wants Myers to focus on starting. The Phillies are coming off last year's historic comeback fueled by the Mets' equally historic collapse. The Phillies are lead by three MVP candidates (Rollins, Utley, and Howard), while the Nationals are lead by three of the biggest screwballs in the game (Young, Milledge, and Dukes.) The Phillies, while nothing to brag about on the mound, are strictly better than a very poor Nationals' squad. I don't see the Phils having any trouble winning this one. Prediction: Phillies, 6-3.
New York Mets at Florida Marlins. Johan Santana vs. Scott Olsen. Much like the last matchup, except in adding a few pieces, the Marlins traded away 2 of their 3 big game makers. The Marlins offense still has Hanley Ramirez and...Dan Uggla? Ugg indeed. The Mets added a Hall of Fame calibur ace in Johan, and have a strictly better offense. Prediction: 6-2 Mets.
Atlanta Braves at Pittsburgh Pirates. John Smoltz vs. Tom Gorzelanny. Three NL East matchups, three easy picks. The Pirates are probably the worst team in the National League, if not the MLB. They just don't have strength anywhere (alright, Matt Capps is OK.) The Pirates will struggle to keep up, and the Braves will roll right over their inferior opposition. Prediction: 5-2 Braves.
Milwaukee Brewers at Chicago Bears. Ben Sheets vs. Carlos Zambrano. Finally an interesting matchup. Ben Sheets and Carlos Zambrano are both aces in their own parts, and the offenses are both extremely potent. The Brewers are fueled by Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun, while the Cubs are fueled by Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Kosuke Fukudome. Basically we're looking at the same teams as last year, except the Cubs added Fukudome, while the Brewers traded Eric Gagne for Francisco Cordero (Loss) and Jason Kendall for Johnny Estrada (Even.) The Cubs get the edge here, since they come out ahead after last year where they were dead even, plus they have home field advantage. Prediction: Cubs, 3-2.
Arizona Diamondbacks at Cincinatti Reds. Brandon Webb vs. Aaron Harang. Aaron Harang is a hell of a pitcher, but there are only two pitchers I can think of (Santana and Peavy) who can match Webb's dominance. The Diamondbacks are coming off a year where they lead the National League in wins, whereas the Reds need a couple more years for stars like Jay Bruce to mature. The Reds picked up Cordero as a solid Closer, but it's not enough to bridge the gap. Prediction: Diamondbacks: 3-1
Colorado Rockies at St. Louis Cardinals. Jeff Francis vs. Adam Wainwright. The Rockies try to defend their National League Pennant this year starting with the rather mediocre Cardinals. The Cardinals will be without ace Chris Carpenter until at least July, so they'll have to rely on their offense to carry them. Unfortunately, despite Albert Pujols, the Colorado offensive core will be too much. Prediction: Rockies, 5-3
Houston Astros at San Diego Padres. Roy Oswalt vs. Jake Peavy. Jake Peavy, possibly the best pitcher in the MLB, is probably the biggest player in this matchup. The Astros offense is powered by Berkman, newly acquired Miguel Tejada, Carlos Lee, and Hunter Pence. The Padres are backed by a somewhat mediocre core of Adrian Gonzalez, Jim Edmonds, and Brian Giles. I'll pick the upset here, and say the Astros take the win in a low scoring match, as Peavy and Oswalt each give up a run, but the Padres bullpen blows it. Prediction: Astros 2-1.
San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers. Matt Cain vs. Brad Penny. If you're a regular reader of the blog, you should unfortunately know how I feel about this. While I like Matt Cain over Brad Penny with a slight edge, the offense just won't be able to push past a good Penny and a dominant Takashi Saito closing. Prediction: Dodgers 3-1.
That's the National League for Opening Day. I'll cover the American League on Wednesday.