Arizona Diamondbacks ace Brandon Webb continued his torrid start to the 2008 season, going the distance against Philadelphia on Thursday to win his eighth straight start. Webb is the first pitcher since Jon Garland in 2005 to begin the season with eight straight victories and the first NL pitcher to accomplish the feat since Pedro Martinez in 1997.

For the third time in four years, Webb has stormed out of the gates to start the season. He won at least his first six decisions on two occasions prior (2005 and 2006), but followed with three-game losing streaks each time he did.

Webb also began the 2006 season by winning his first eight decisions. He then proceeded to lose three straight before righting the ship and eventually winning the NL Cy Young award. He got off to a 6-0 start in 2005, but lost 11 of his final 19 decisions and finished with a 14-11 record.

Last season was a different story. Webb didn’t win his eighth game until June 27, then lost three straight decisions to even his season record at 8-8 in mid-July. At that point, he went on his epic 42.1 inning scoreless streak, tossed three straight complete-game shutouts, and finished with a career-high 18 victories.

How Webb eases out of his hot start in 2008 will determine how much history he can make. At this point, he looks to be a slam dunk for his first career 20-win season, but how much further could he take it? He has a track record of avoiding no-decisions, and he pitches for the best team in the National League, so 25 wins remain a possibility.

In the last three-plus seasons, Webb has factored into the decision in nearly 80 percent of his starts. Assuming he stays true to that rate and that he makes 25 more starts (33 total), Webb would need to post a 17-3 record the rest of the way in order to get to 25 victories.

Take that math with a grain of salt, but the point remains: 25 wins is a tough, near-impossible task in modern baseball. The last time a pitcher won 25 games in a season was in 1974 when both Catfish Hunter and Fergie Jenkins did it.

More on Thursday’s Start
In addition to extending his season-opening winning streak to eight games, Thursday afternoon presented a couple of firsts for Webb. It was his first complete-game effort of the year and the first time he did not issue a walk in a start. Combined with six hits allowed, Webb allowed fewer base runners than innings pitched for the first time in his last four starts.

A Warning About Defense
Webb relies heavily on his infield defense to make plays behind him, and the Diamondbacks have not been sterling in that department. Arizona has the 10th-most errors in baseball, more than half of which (12 of 22) have come from the left side. The porous defense has yet to cost Webb, but it has certainly been a factor: The D-backs have allowed the most unearned runs in baseball.

Other thoughts …
Three Strikes and Out says it’s got to be tiring for Webb to win all the time.

Sports News Southwest recaps Webb’s April Pitcher of the Month award.

Kentucky Sports Radio admires the accomplishments of Webb, an alumnus of the University of Kentucky.

Dustin Hockensmith is editor of ImaginaryDiamond.com. He can be contacted at dhockensmith[at]fantasysports101.net.