It's only May, but Justin Verlander has already has lost as many games (six) as he did all of last season. AP Gennaro Filice's Mailbag Submit a comment or question for Gennaro. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

THREE DOWN

1. Verlander's polish: In Year 1, Justin Verlander burst onto the scene with a 17-9 record and ran away with the AL Rookie of the Year award.

In Year 2, Verlander established himself as Detroit's ace, threw a no-hitter and collected 18 more wins.

This rapid rise led many of us to believe Verlander would firmly place himself among the game's best in Year 3. But after eight starts, he looks like another embarrassing example of our premature adulation.

At 1-6 with a 6.43 ERA, Verlander has baseball minds racing, trying to figure out what's wrong with him. Many folks point to a decrease in velocity as support for the convenient explanation: He's hurt. But Verlander and the Tigers enthusiastically deny this theory. And I believe them. It's hard to imagine Detroit allowing the future of its staff to rack up May innings on a balky arm. There's a much simpler explanation to his struggles: Verlander is nowhere near as polished as most of us were led to believe. This is especially evident when it comes to the mental side of pitching.

Verlander opened this season as the unquestioned No. 1 for an ultra-hyped World Series contender. That's a lot of responsibility for a 25-year-old, and it's getting to him. With his increase in walks and decrease in strikeouts, Verlander seems to be trying to be too perfect, instead of just airing it out like he did in the past.

"I think he's getting caught a little bit worrying too much about trying to become a pitcher, throwing 91 and 92 and saving [more velocity] if you get into a jam," Jim Leyland told the Detroit Free Press. "I think he needs to go back to what he did in his first year: 'I've got good stuff. I'll make my pitches. You hit it.' "

This fixation with flawlessness could stem from the fact that his run support has greatly decreased this season. In 2006( 6.77) and 2007 (7.32), Verlander received the second- and third-best run support, respectively, in the majors. This year he's getting a measly 2.57 runs from the underachieving Tigers offense.

Verlander still boasts the raw nastiness to someday become a top-tier ace, but he's not there yet.

2. Eric Byrnes: With his endless hustle and frat guy persona, Byrnesy gets a lot of love here at Three Up, Three Down. But because we try to maintain a smidgen of professionalism, no punch can be pulled.

Last season Byrnes finished fourth in steals with 50. This year he's on track for 19. To be fair, Byrnes has battled hamstring problems since the beginning of spring training. The hammy is healed, though, and Byrnes recently told the Arizona Republic, "I'm ready to start running again."

But it's pretty hard to steal bases when you can't get on base. Byrnes is mired in a 5-for-46 slump over his last 11 games, dropping his average to .232. Diamondbacks faithful are begging him to bring back his mustache. (Byrnes attributed a 14-game hitting streak to the 'stache back in April.) Personally, I think he needs to abandon his current at-bat tuneage: The Outfield's Your Love. Tony Lewis' high-pitched holler has clearly run out of juice.

3. Howie's fragility: Howie Kendrick may be one of the purest young hitters in the game today. Unfortunately, he's also beginning to look like one of the most brittle.

Kendrick hit .322 last year, but he missed a total of 67 games on the disabled list with two separate finger fractures. The second basemen got off to a hot start this season (8-for-16 with a 1.221 OPS), but a strained left hamstring put him on the shelf after 10 games. On the 15-day DL since April 14, Kendrick's return has been delayed twice.

Kendrick's line-drive swing evokes memories of Tony Gwynn, but his DL frequency elicits comparisons to Nick Johnson.

QUICK HITS

• As of Friday morning, it has been 22 innings since a Mariner last crossed home plate. And these offensive frustrations seemed to boil over Thursday night when Kason Gabbard buzzed Richie Sexson's tower, setting off a bench-clearing skirmish at the mound. Rangers TV analyst Tom Grieve absolutely hammered Sexson for charging the mound, calling the Mariners first baseman "gutless" and "a joke."

• Did the Rockies forget that Rick Ankiel was a fire-balling pitcher in his first MLB life? Two Colorado baserunners tested Ankiel's arm on Tuesday, and the center fielder nailed them both with a pair of awe-inducing throws to third base.

• When the Yankees demoted pitcher Ian Kennedy to Class AAA Scranton on Sunday, the right-hander admitted the New York media had gotten to him. "If I pitch under a smaller microscope down there in Scranton then maybe it might put a little less pressure on me," Kennedy told the New York Daily News. "Analyzing every pitch doesn't help." In his return to the minors on Thursday, Kennedy pitched 7 1/3 innings of one-hit ball with eight strikeouts and zero walks.

• Does anyone in baseball constantly look more ticked off than Blue Jays hurler A.J. Burnett? Seriously, watching him makes me uncomfortable.

• The Mets finally had a starting pitcher reach the eighth inning, as John Maine went 8 1/3 on Wednesday. New York was the last team to have a starter accomplish this feat in 2008.

• Dusty Baker earned a bad reputation for overworking young arms during his days as Cubs manager. He did nothing to dispel this rep on Wednesday, allowing 24-year-old phenom Edinson Volquez to throw 118 pitches in a 9-0 win

• Joba Chamberlain's triumphant fist pumps are creating a bit of a stir. After giving up a back-breaking home run to David Dellucci Tuesday, Chamberlain struck out Dellucci Thursday. Even though there was nobody on base and the Yankees held a three-run lead at the time, Joba punctuated the punchout with a World Series-caliber pump. Dellucci wasn't too pleased and let the media know it: "If he wants to yell and scream after a strikeout and dance around the mound, that's what gets him going. My home run was in a much bigger situation, a much more key part of the game, but I didn't dance around and scream."

• Jacoby Ellsbury is a perfect 22-for-22 in stolen bases in his major league career.

• One quick piece of fantasy advice (heed at your own peril ...): Pick up Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta. Now! Iannetta has started five straight games over light-hitting Yorvit Torrealba, accumulating eight RBIs. We all know how shallow this position is in the fantasy world. It's time to part ways with Kurt Suzuki and hop on the Iannetta train.