Rockies tab Brothers to close in Betancourt's absence

DENVER -- While the Rockies will certainly miss the veteran presence of Rafael Betancourt in their bullpen, they have a promising young arm ready to take over.

Manager Walt Weiss said lefty Rex Brothers, 25, will be the Rockies' closer while Betancourt is on the 15-day disabled list with a right groin strain. Brothers boasts a 0.36 ERA and has not given up a run in his past 23 appearances (21 1/2 innings). His ERA leads the Majors for relievers who have appeared in at least 20 games.

"He's got a really good arm and he's commanding his stuff," Weiss said. "He's really maturing right before our eyes into one of the dominant relief pitchers in this league.

"His slider's been real good, he's got a lot of swings and misses with his slider. When his fastball's the way it is, when he's throwing his slider near the zone or at the bottom of the zone, it's a really tough at-bat for anybody."

Brothers, a first-round pick in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft out of Lipscomb University (Tenn.), is seen as the Rockies' closer of the future. This is his third season in the big leagues.