Three Up, Three Down (cont.)

Joe Borowski (left) and Jose Valverde (right) have struck this pose often in the young season.

Gennaro Filice's Mailbag

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THREE DOWN

1. Last season's save kings: In 2007 Arizona's Jose Valverde (47) and Cleveland's Joe Borowski (45) led their respective leagues in saves. In 2008, they lead their respective leagues in boo birds.

Valverde (12.27 ERA) and Borowski (18.00) have each blown two saves and have generally looked awful on the hill.

Now, let's be honest -- nobody is shocked by Borowski's blowups, especially not Indians fans. The closer got off to a similarly hideous start last season, posting a 13.50 ERA through his first seven outings. Even though he ended up leading the American League in saves, Borowski was never pretty. In fact, he became the first major league pitcher ever with over 35 saves and an ERA north of 5.00 (5.07 to be exact). On Tuesday the Indians placed Borowski on the disabled list with a strained triceps, and a large number of Tribe fans breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Valverde's collapse is much more of a surprise. True, the hulking hurler struggled with consistency from 2003 to '06, but he really turned the corner last year, posting rock-solid numbers: 2.66 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, .196 BAA. Though it did seem a bit curious when Arizona immediately dealt him (and his arbitration demands) to Houston in the offseason. Maybe the D'backs felt Valverde outperformed his ability in '07.

With Borowski on the shelf for a couple weeks, many expect fill-in closer Rafael Betancourt to snatch the job. On the other hand, Valverde still has a tight grip on the ninth inning, according to his skipper. "He's the man," Cecil Cooper told reporters on Wednesday, the day after Valverde's latest blown save. "That's all you can tell him. He's the guy. I have a lot of confidence in him."

2. Nats offensive offense: Even though we're only three weeks into the season, it's still embarrassing for any single player to be near the Mendoza Line. So you can imagine how the Nationals must feel, possessing a team average of .219 -- easily the lowest in baseball.

Since winning its first three games of the season, Washington has lost 12 of 13, thanks in large part to a stagnant offense. Entering Friday, Washington had one regular hitting over .300 (Cristian Guzman at .310). Ryan Zimmerman and Nick Johnson are tied for the team lead with a whopping seven RBIs. And Zimmerman, the franchise's star player, has a .545 OPS.

Couple this with the pitching staff's 4.63 ERA, and you're looking at some awesomely bad baseball.

3. ESPN's Tejada ambush: This year has been a nightmare for Miguel Tejada. On Jan. 15, Rep. Henry Waxman publicly announced that Congress had asked the Justice Department to investigate Tejada for possibly lying to committee staffers in 2005, when he said he had never taken performance-enhancing drugs. Later that same day word surfaced that Tejada's brother had died in a motorcycle accident.

On Tuesday ESPN delivered an over-the-top coup de grace. After discovering that Tejada was two years older than he claimed, the show E:60 set up a seemingly innocent interview with Tejada. Reporter Tom Farrey put on his Chris Hansen pants and ambushed Tejada with a copy of his birth certificate. (You can see the video here, but beware -- discomfort is sure to follow.) After an awkward minute or so, Tejada left the room.

Now, let me make one thing clear: I'm not defending Tejada's dishonesty. If he lied, that's wrong. And ESPN has every right to report it. But why couldn't it have reported the story with a bit of journalistic integrity? Why did ESPN have to dupe him into a seemingly innocent interview before completely flipping the script. Why? Because that's good TV. Not to mention that Farrey interacted with Tejada throughout the brief interview as if he were absolutely despicable. Yes, Tejada lied about his age, but let's not treat him like he firebombed a nursery.

QUICK HITS

• Kansas City starters Zack Greinke (0.75) and Brian Bannister (0.82) own the top two ERAs in the American League.

• Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera turns 25 today. That's a scary thought.

• Last Friday Justin Upton swung so hard at a Jeff Francis pitch that he fell over in embarrassing fashion. No worries. Upton dusted himself off, and on Francis' very next offering, he did this.

• Milwaukee hasn't had a Gold Glove winner since Robin Yount in 1982, by far the longest drought for any team. That's a sad, sad statistic.

• Duaner Sanchez returned to the Mets this week, pitching in the majors for the first time since separating his shoulder in a July 2006 taxi accident. Can he produce like he did before the injury? Two and a third scoreless innings is a nice start.

• Is there a starting pitcher who gets out of jams better than Andy Pettitte? Pettitte may find life easier, though, if he stopped spotting opponents two baserunners to begin each inning.

• New to the outfield, Rays CF B.J. Upton loves to show off his cannon arm. But he needs to stop airmailing the cutoff man. Immediately.

• Daisuke Matsuzaka's off to a hot start yet again (3-0), but his pitch count hasn't been too encouraging of late. In Sunday's win over the Yankees, Dice-K needed 117 pitches just to make it through five innings.

• Quite a week for Giants prospect John Bowker. Since being called up last Saturday, the 24-year-old outfielder has played spectacularly in four games, hitting .583 with two homers, a triple and seven RBI. Yes, the Giants actually do have a position player or two down on the farm.

• Pudge Rodriguez is a walking machine! Well, not really, but with three free passes, he's already a third of the way to last year's season total.

• Experience be damned -- the youthful A's currently boast the MLB's best road record (6-2).

• Frank Thomas made history Monday. His seventh-inning popout marked his 9,832nd plate appearance without a sacrifice bunt. He now holds the MLB record, passing Harmon Killebrew.