It's going to be the pitching this year

Wins are wins- whether they are over the Phillies or the Padres, wins are wins.

No, the Padres so not inspire much fear this year. When Edinson Volquez is your Opening Day starter, you don't exactly have stars in your eyes. But the Dodgers will take them. Until Magic and his merry men establish their foothold, the Dodgers have to do the best they can with basically a Frank McCourt team, and three out four ain't bad.

Matt Kemp looks to be living up to his near-MVP hype with a couple of bombs and a .412 average over the weekend, and Andre Ethier seems to have brought his power stroke, with two doubles, a triple and a homer over the weekend. You also have to like Chad Billingsley's start on Friday, he looked like the pre-Kershaw would-be ace that Dodger fans have been hoping for years, which Billingsley has teased, but never totally come through on.

You have to worry about the rest of the pitching, though. Neither Chris Capauano or Aaron Harang looked very good in their first starts, both against a hardly awe-inspiring Padre lineup. Ted Lilly is hurt, and while Clayton Kershaw is looking like an ace, we're not sold on Billingsley yet, and Harang and Capauano didn't exactly leave great first impressions, it means the Dodgers starting pitching is a big question mark.

Yes, I give Ned Colletti, his scouts and the generous pitchers park that is Dodger stadium the benefit of the doubt- it is a long season- but both guys have miles and injury histories, so we'll see. It will take top-grade pitching for the Dodgers to have a chance to be relevant this year, and we're not just talking Kershaw. Billingsley needs to look like that guy we saw on Friday, while Harang and Capauano need to look better than they did this weekend for the Dodgers to have a chance.