The Venezuelan baseball player Rafael Betancourt has signed a new two-year contract with the Colorado Rockies and will now serve as the team’s closing pitcher, according to an article in the Washington Post on Wednesday.

The right-handed relief pitcher saved eight out of nine games for the Rockies last August while filling in for another pitcher.

The Post states that “Betancourt has never had a closer’s job to start a season. He has 27 career saves and 141 holds for Cleveland (2003-09) and Colorado (2009-2011).
Betancourt, age 36, said last week that he will not approach things any differently than before now that he is a closer as opposed to a relief pitcher.

“I treat it the same whether it’s the seventh, eighth or ninth. It’s fun because now I just have to get three outs for the team to have a chance to win the game,” he said.

The Post points out Betancourt’s solid record: “Among major league relievers with at least 25 appearances after the All-Star break, Betancourt led the [National League] in ERA [earned run average], opponents’ batting average, strikeout to walk ratio, hits allowed per nine innings (2.33) and base runners allowed per nine innings (2.67).”

Press Office – Embassy of Venezuela to the U.S. / January 26, 2012