Jennifer Hilderbrand – USA Today Sports
In sports, there are always guys who get a ton of credit, and also those players who consistently perform but never get the recognition.
This also applies to fantasy baseball, as many quality contributors often fly under the radar, only to play well year after year. Finding these solid veterans for cheap can be invaluable for your fantasy team, so we are going to create a full squad of underrated performers to help your 2013 squad.
We started off the series with veteran Cincinnati Reds SP Bronson Arroyo, and will now take a closer look at one of the more effective fantasy closers you rarely hear about, Rafael Betancourt.
Heading into the season, the closer for the Colorado Rockies likely wasn’t in the top 10 closers on many draft boards and frankly, he should have been. In 2012, Betancourt was one of the more consistent options for saves as he recorded 31 with little drama while striking out 57. He had a very good 1.13 WHIP and 2.81 ERA and was able to ease the minds of his fantasy owners as far as saves were concerned. Last season may have been Betancourt’s first full year as a closer, but the fact of the matter is that Betancourt has been a very reliable reliever in the big leagues for 10 years now.
The vet broke into the league in 2003 with the Cleveland Indians and boasts a career ERA of 3.12 and WHIP of 1.08. He has struck out 668 in 632 career innings and also has 142 holds during that span. Finding a closer with job security is tough, and even though Betancourt is one of those guys, he was taken multiple rounds after guys like Craig Kimbrel and Jonathan Papelbon. So far this season, Betancourt has four more saves than Papelbon (one fewer than Kimbrel) and has a better BAA (batting average against), WHIP and ERA than Kimbrel.
He doesn’t strikeout a ton of batters, but the security he provides as a closer – a rare commodity in fantasy baseball – is invaluable. Those who waited on closers and drafted Betancourt have to be thrilled with the bang they have received for their buck.
2013 Fantasy Baseball All-Underrated Team
SP: Bronson Arroyo, Cincinnati Reds
RP: Rafael Betancourt, Colorado Rockies
Stay tuned for the next edition of the 2013 Fantasy Baseball All-Underrated Team on www.Rantsports.com/fantasy
Rich Arleo is a fantasy sports expert with Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @Rarleo, ‘Like’ him on Facebook and add him to your networks on Google.
