TUCSON — In what became his signature career break, Rafael Betancourt was allowed to switch to pitching after coming up in the Red Sox system as a shortstop.
Check that.
“I didn’t switch,” Betancourt said. “They made me. I wasn’t a good-field, no-hit shortstop. I was good-field, never-hit.”
While it’s rare for a player to switch to pitching from another position at the pro level, several Rockies players played shortstop in their younger days. Basically, if you’re right-handed and play in the big leagues, you probably played shortstop at some time.
“I imagine a lot of the lefties did too,” said Clint Barmes, a shortstop who made the switch to second base after the emergence of Troy Tulowitzki. “It’s the nature of the position. It’s one of the most important positions, so they want the best players playing there.”
Closer Huston Street played shortstop in high school. Esmil Rogers came up in the Rockies’ system as a shortstop before being switched to pitcher.
Betancourt? He dreamed of being the next Omar Vizquel.
“I was very quick,” he said. “I was probably 180 or 185 pounds. I could make the throw from the hole, but I couldn’t hit.”
There are exceptions to the shortstop rule. Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez is one.
“They wanted to put me there when I was a little kid, but I was afraid of the ball, so they put me in center field,” Jimenez said.
