Rafael Betancourt

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**Rafael Betancourt**

Cleveland Indians — No. 63
Relief pitcher
Born: April 29, 1975 (1975-04-29) (age 33) Cumaná, Sucre State, Venezuela
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
July 13, 2003 for the Cleveland Indians
Selected MLB statistics (through 2007)
Win-Loss	19-16
Earned run average	2.80
Strikeouts	313
Teams
Cleveland Indians (2003–present)

Rafael José Betancourt (b. April 29, 1975 Cumaná, Sucre State, Venezuela) is a Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher who has pitched with the Cleveland Indians since 2003. He was originally signed as an amateur free agent by the Boston Red Sox in September 1993. The Red Sox released him following the 1999 season and then resigned him as a free agent in December 2000. He was granted free agency again in October 2001 and signed with the Indians in January 2003. On July 8, 2005 he became the sixth Major League player to be suspended for testing positive in steroids testing.^[1]

On January 23, 2008, he signed a two year contract with the Indians with a club option for 2010.

According to Baseball America, Betancourt may be the future closer for the Indians. His best pitches are a curveball which is often mistakenly called a slider, and a 90–94 MPH fastball. He also throws a change-up. Although he's not classified as a strikeout pitcher, Betancourt gets more than his share by throwing a significant number of strikes. He is a converted shortstop with a metal plate and six screws in his pitching elbow.

Betancourt is known in some circles for his odd windup. He constantly taps his foot on the rubber before coming set with a runner on base. Some argue^[who?] that this is a balk, while others argue that he stops the tapping before he comes set and delivers the pitch. He will constantly move his hands around and then tug on his baseball cap (sometimes doing it nine times) prior to throwing the next pitch. This is among the longest windups in the league. There is a rule to avoid unnecessary delays which states that if a pitcher takes at least 12 seconds to deliver a pitch, the pitch is automatically ruled a ball. Betancourt is one of the few pitchers who have had this rule enforced while pitching.

See also