After last night's implosion du jour against Manny and the Red Sox, Joe Borowski admitted he wasn't feeling great, and has been placed on the disabled list. Borowski led the league in saves last year, despite having bad overall numbers. So far this year, he's been just plain bad.
JoeBo has pitched in five games this season, and only once has he gotten a 1-2-3 inning — Saturday, in mop-up duty of a 7-3 loss to Oakland. In four innings overall, Borowski has given up eight runs on four walks and seven hits, three of which left the yard. That kind of closer just kills his team.
And it seems to me that if Borowski knew he wasn't feeling great going into the game, he should have said something. Borowski said after the game: "I just felt like I had nothing, like I was throwing through water." That's the kind of thing I'd want to know before I put a guy in to save a game, if I were a manager for a team that hopes to reach the playoffs.
Presumably, the new closer will be Rafael Betancourt, which is what I've been calling for since spring training (and you can check my archives if you doubt me). Betancourt hasn't exactly been lights-out so far this year, but he was the best set-up man in baseball in 2007. I predict he'll do the job well, and keep it for the rest of the season.
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