No Silva For Us

Not gonna lie - this kinda makes me mad.

Silva scratched from Thursday start (hamstring), Lilly will start instead

Remember when Milton Bradley was conveniently scratched for that M's/Cubs game during Spring Training? I guess this is kind of returning the favor. Not that I think the Cubs would hold Silva out if he weren't legitimately troubled, since he's laughably and infuriatingly been their best starting pitcher, but the timing is remarkable.

So rather than an amazing Felix/Silva showdown during Thursday's matinee, we get Felix and Ted Lilly instead. And I don't find Ted Lilly to be the least bit interesting. Now, I'm fully aware of the potential downside a Felix/Silva matchup would possess. If Felix and the M's were to lose to Silva and the Cubs, we'd feel lower than we've felt in some time, forced to question who we are and why we root. But imagine if we won. Imagine that Jarrod Washburn/Kenji Johjima feeling all over again. That was one of the highlights of the 2009 season. As petty as it sounds, few things feel as satisfying as beating up on a former team member you didn't really like.

And now we've been robbed of that opportunity. And that sucks. So what about the downside? Sports fans can't be afraid of the downside. The downside is what makes the upside so special. The M's aren't going to the playoffs. The M's probably aren't winning 80 games. There aren't going to be a lot of exciting, high-leverage games the rest of the way. This was to be one of them, and now it's not going to happen.

Sure, this way we can be pretty certain that we won't spend Thursday night drifting into an eternal sleep, but with Silva out, we can also be pretty certain that we won't spend it doing celebratory body shots out of Eliza Dushku's cleavage. A day of high emotion has been replaced by a day of inconsequence. Yeah, I know, it's still Felix Day. And Felix Day is amazing. But Felix vs. Silva Day was going to be something transcendent.

Carlos Silva was sent to this planet to make me upset.