So here we have an interesting turn of events in the NL East division. The Phillies come into the season with a truly stacked bullpen, bolted down with Halladay and Lee as the 1-2 punch that can go a combined 18 innings in two nights, rounded up with two capable stars named Oswalt and Hamels. However if you look back at the 2010 New York Mets, we had a very solid rotation and an excellent team ERA of 3.70 which ranked 7th in the MLB, with the Phillies being 6th (3.67). However our lack of an offense prevented us from being able to produce enough runs to win low-scoring games. I recall pitchers such as Jonathon Niese and Johan Santana finding the short-end of a 3-2 final score. 

There were a couple of key injuries that prevented us from getting past the hurdles and they range from Jason Bay's concussion to Santana's season-ending injury. 

When you look at the NL East, clearly the favorites are the Phillies followed closely by the Atlanta Braves.  Some speculate that the Phillies could possibly win 100 games, however if you start the season off with an injury-plagued roster you're going to have struggles. A lot of struggles. For the Phillies it reminds me of the Mets over the past 4 years.  When you lose a player, even for a short period of time, it can linger for much longer and have a brutal impact on your journey to success. Thus can be the same prediction for the Phillies. They come in with a remarkable rotation ranking among the likes of the mid-90s Braves and the Orioles in 1971. The paper is different than reality and that must always be remembered. Philadelphia's most all-around player, Second Baseman Chase Utley will start the season on the Disabled List due to patella tendinitis and bone inflamation in his right knee. That words 'Tendinitis' & 'Knee' remind me of a player on the Mets…. 

So now the Phillies have three key players out with injury — OF and rising prospect Dominic Brown will miss close to a month of the season with a wrist injury, Utley will start the season on the DL with knee tendinitis, and now CL Brad Lidge may start the season on DL with shoulder soreness. Lidge will have an MRI on his shoulder next week and the Phillies have not ruled out structural damage. If they lose Lidge for a significant period of time there will be added pressure on the rotation to last 7 or more innings. But what is more important is if this is a lingering issue and is indeed structural, the Phillies will have to look from within for a replacement closer, whether it's temporary or permanent. We've seen what can happen to a ballclub without it's closer, and often it is difficult to find a replacement from within, something the Mets have dealt with in the past. 

What I am saying is, while it's unlikely though possible, this could be the beginning to a very rough season for the Phillies and there is the chance they could have more injury problems that will test their farm system, a system that many feel was "depleted" in order to acquire Roy Halladay. 

According to Steve Popper of the Bergen Record, Johan Santana's throwing hasn't been going well and could be shut down for the rest of the season.

First off, obviously I want to see Johan on the field and healthy as soon as possible. When he's healthy, he's an utterly fantastic starting pitcher and can be a true difference maker on the mound. There is a reason he got the contract he has now. But as far as I'm concerned, the only thing that was important was getting Johan ready to be the ace once again in 2012.

We already knew he was going to miss about half the season whether or not his rehab went well. And if and when he comes back this season, no one expects to see vintage Johan out there at Citi Field. He'll still be working himself back into game shape at that point. On top of that, no one expects much out of the Mets in general this season. The front office is expected to have money to spend after the season when a lot of money is freed up from expiring contracts. And when this team has reloaded, they'll need Johan Santana to be their ace if they expect to compete in the tough NL East. 

So, if Johan's rehab really isn't going well (and there are reports to the contrary), I'm not going to be terribly worried at this point in time. If we here the same thing a year from now I'll get worried. Until then, the Mets need to keep doing what they're doing with Johan. Take it slow and build up his strength. You want him to be healthy beyond this season for the final two years of his contract. Remember, this is a guy who has had some sort of surgical procedure done every year he's been with the Mets. That's something I'm sure the Mets want to avoid going forward. For now, don't get too worked up about this. True or not, the Mets have bigger worries about this team in my opinion.

The thing I keep hearing from all the Mets players is that if the team stays healthy, they will be able to compete. This is a statement I agree with, but I don't really think the Mets will be able to stay healthy. They just have a lot of injury prone players on their team. Could they all stay relatively healthy? Sure, but I just get the feeling that someone will get hurt badly and miss a lot of games, it always seems to happen.

So let's take a look at the starting line-up, Let's just say this is the line-up come Opening Day:

• Jose Reyes – SS
• Angel Pagan – RF
• David Wright – 3B
• Carlos Beltran – CF
• Ike Davis – 1B
• Jason Bay – LF
• Daniel Murphy – 2B
• Josh Thole – C

Right off the bat you have Reyes, who has been struggling with injuries the past two seasons. In 2009 he dealt with a calf problem, and then tore his hamstring while rehabbing. In 2010 he had a thyroid gland problem which forced him to miss all of Spring Training, then later in the season he missed a few games, including the All-Star Game, due to a oblique strain.

Pagan was healthy in 2010, but that's been the only season he's been fully healthy for. He has dealt with a serious illness, shoulder surgery, and groin problems over the years. Just because he had one healthy, I'm not certain that his injury-prone days are behind him.

Wright really isn't injury prone, but the one major injury that he did suffer was a concussion from a 96-MPH fastball to the head from Matt Cain.

Beltran had knee surgery in January of 2010 that forced him to be out until July 15th. Now, like Reyes, he gets to enter Spring Training fully healthy, but that doesn't mean that his knee won't give him more issues.

Davis has a clean record, but he is on the Mets, so we'll see how long that lasts.

After signing a huge contract with the Mets in the offseason, Bay missed most of his first year with the Mets due to a concussion. He claims to be 100% now, but concussions are a tricky thing.

Murphy was looking to take the starting first baseman's job out of Spring Training last year, but injured his knee during a run down between third base and home plate. In June, on a rehab assignment playing second base, Murphy suffered an MCL tear when he was taken out trying to turn a double-play. He didn't need surgery, but was out of commission for four to six months.

Thole hasn't been injured yet, but he is a catcher, which tends to lead to a lot of injuries, and time on the DL.

Hopefully none of these guys heads to the DL this season, but that's probably unlikely with the Mets recent history. So if you had to pick one of the starting position players to go to the DL first, who would it be?