Betancourt was inserted into the closer role in late April after much speculation that he was the rightful choice for that job, and blew up.
The Indians now must know that after two tries over his career, Betancourt just is not that guy. After quickly losing confidence and losing his pinpoint control of his fastball (which must have transferred into Cliff Lee’s arm), Betancourt took a long time to right himself.
Eventually he found himself closer to his usual self and posted a respectable 3.72 ERA after the All-Star break. I wouldn’t expect much different than that this year. He still has excellent command and once the fastball is back in his arsenal and he stops having to throw the slider/ change-ups, he will be tough to beat.
The Indians have him signed though ’09, with a ’10 club option, just as Kobayashi. Betancourt should again be a very good compliment to his pal Raffy Left.
Rafael Perez in my opinion is the man to take over as the Indians closer.
Too bad for him he is left-handed, which on a team that had no other LH options made it hard to take him out of his important role and actually finish games.
He is the one guy that the Indians can count on coming in and giving a great performance on a rather consistent basis. He has great stuff and is another Indians pitcher who generates a high number of groundballs. Mix that with his plus-strikeout skills and the Indians have one of the premier relievers in the game.
You could even argue that he is the closest thing to Billy Wagner in the league right now. If you get a chance, look at the splits. Not too different, Perez doesn’t quite match Wagner’s strikeout rate during his heyday, and does still have to work on the HR ball, but once he figures that out there is no stopping him.
Perez is arbitration eligible through 2012 with the Indians.
The last lock in the Indians initial bullpen, as it sets right now, is the incumbent closer, Jensen Lewis. If there is to be an upgrade to this bullpen as currently shaped, it will likely be in the closer role, but that is no slap in the face to Jensen and his abilities. He did an outstanding job, and may again do a very fine job if the Indians decide that the market will not allow for a replacement.
Lewis converted all 13 save opportunities with a 2.52 ERA and 22-to-4 K/BB ratio once given the job. He helped to solidify the bullpen and the team as the Indians coasted through the last two months of the season winning like it was 2007 all over again.
I, just as the Indians seem to hint at, would be OK if Lewis entered the season as the Indians' closer. He may never continue the dominating performance that finished ‘08, but he has the potential to become a respectable closer, and certainly numerous times better than Joe Bowrowski ever was.
So in a nutshell this is what the Indians have right now, signed and on the active roster entering 2009:
1. Zach Jackson
2. Masa Kobayashi
3. Rafael Betancourt
4. Rafael Perez
5. Jensen Lewis
6. TBA
7. TBA?
This leaves one to two more spots to fill before the season starts. The second part in this series will delve into the Indians options to fill these jobs, from outside of the organizations and inside from the strong core of minor league talent.
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