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Right-hander struggles to notch saves when he lets emotions take over
By Stephanie Storm
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Sunday, May 11, 2008
CLEVELAND: Closing baseball games is not for the meek of heart. To be successful requires aggressiveness, but if failure comes, short-term memory loss is beneficial.
Rafael Betancourt has the first part of his new role down pat — it's the way he's always pitched in cementing his role as the Indians' setup man.
Containing his emotions is what the right-hander needs to work on in order to successfully fill in as the Indians' closer with veteran Joe Borowski sidelined with right biceps tendinitis.
To compound the tricky transition, Betancourt wasn't pitching like his normal self before he took over closing on April 15 — a problem he insists has to do simply with location.
''My last couple of outings, I haven't been able to throw the ball where I want to,'' said Betancourt, 33. ''When you come out of the bullpen, closing or not, you don't have time to adjust if your location is off. You don't have time to figure out what's wrong and fix it.''
That's part of the reason why after earning two saves in his first two attempts, Betancourt struggled some before closing out another two games against the New York Yankees this week.
He gave up a three-run home run in the ninth inning of a tie game against the Yankees last week at Progressive Field. Then he blew his first save a few days later against the visiting Seattle Mariners, although a Casey Blake fielding error at third base contributed, and the Tribe went on to rally for a win in 11 innings.
Instead of celebrating afterward, Betancourt fumed. His perfectionist and competitive nature had him so wrapped up with what he didn't accomplish, it took some hindsight later to put in context what his teammates had done.
''It's more important we won the game,'' Betancourt said a few days later. ''I was just so mad at myself that I didn't do my job.''
Entering the 2-0 loss Sunday to the Kansas City Royals trailing 1-0 in the ninth inning, Betancourt gave up a solo home run to the first batter he faced.
That makes four homers given up already this season in just 142/3 innings, compared with four allowed all last year for Betancourt.
''Raffy's time as the closer so far has been odd,'' Indians manager Eric Wedge said Saturday. ''First, he didn't have an opportunity to close a game for over a week. Then he closes out a couple. Then I brought him in that tie ballgame that's not a straight-up closing situation, but it is because you're home, and he didn't have very good stuff. And then (Thursday) fluke things happened behind him.''
Regardless of his role, what troubles Betancourt the most is that he has already allowed nine runs on 18 hits for a 5.52 ERA in 16 appearances.
Those numbers are in stark contrast to last season when he went 5-1 with a 1.47 ERA and three saves in 68 appearances. In 791/3 innings, Betancourt limited opponents to just 13 earned runs and nine walks and struck out 80. Among American League relievers, he ranked first in holds with 31, second in ERA and fifth in strikeouts.
Betancourt was practically automatic all season. That is, until the final game of the season — a heartbreaking loss in Boston to the Red Sox in the seventh game of the ALCS — when he admits his emotions got the best of him as the Tribe's hopes of reaching the World Series vanished.
''Physically, I was fine,'' he said. ''But I was pitching with frustration. I felt we got to this point, one game away (from the World Series), and it was slipping away. When (Dustin) Pedroia hit a home run to make it 5-2 in the seventh inning I was mad. When I came back in the next inning, I didn't seem to have my mind set to pitch and be able to do my job.''
That's why it's so hard to pinpoint whether Betancourt's recent problems have to do with emotions or command or most likely, a combination of both.
''I know this, I feel as confident in (Betancourt) as I ever have,'' Wedge said. ''But regardless of what Betancourt does, Borowski is going to be our closer. It's just the right thing to do.''
Until then, however, Wedge's best bet right now might be to go with Japanese import Masa Kobayashi. The 33-year-old is 2-0 with a 2.20 ERA and has been successfully filling in for Betancourt as the setup man. And it's no coincidence that Kobayashi had 227 saves as Chiba Lotte's closer during an eight-year career.
''You don't close out 200-some odd games over there in Japan without having a heartbeat that works for those late-inning situations,'' Wedge said.
Stephanie Storm can be reached at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com.
CLEVELAND: Closing baseball games is not for the meek of heart. To be successful requires aggressiveness, but if failure comes, short-term memory loss is beneficial.
Get the full article here.
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