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Former Bison tapped as Rockies closing pitcher

Kim Chaudoin | 

Colorado Rockies fans will be seeing a lot more of left-handed pitcher Rex Brothers in the next few weeks.

Rex Brothers Rockies 2Brothers, a Bison standout from 2006-2009, has stepped on the mound to fill in for Colorado veteran Rafael Betancourt, who is in the midst of a stint on the 15-day disabled list. Manager Walt Weiss named Brothers, 25, the Rockies’ closer while Betancourt recovers.

The Chapel Hill, Tenn., native is considered by many to be the team’s closer of the future.

"He's got a really good arm and he's commanding his stuff," Weiss told a MLB.com reporter. "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 boasts a 0.35 ERA and has given up only one run in his past 28 appearances (25 2/3 innings through June 6) with a 25-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio this season. His ERA leads the Majors for relievers who have appeared in at least 20 games.

Brothers was a first-round pick in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft out of Lipscomb University. While at Lipscomb, Brothers was a three-time Atlantic Sun All-Conference selection and made an immediate impact to the Bison program on-and-off-the-field. As a sophomore, Brothers played an integral part in getting the Bisons to its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2008.

Rex Brothers RockiesBisons fans recall many highlights of Rex’s career but none bigger than leading the Bisons to a 10-7 win over eighth-ranked Georgia in the first round of the NCAA Athens Regional. Georgia went on to finish runner-up at the 2008 College World Series. The win over the Bulldogs also marked the first ever NCAA Tournament win in the history of the program.

Following his junior season at Lipscomb, Rex joined elite company, becoming just the second player in Lipscomb baseball history to be selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft, joing Bison NAIA All-American, Bo McLaughlin, who was a first round pick in the 1975 draft.

This is Brothers’ third season in the big leagues. Click here for his career stats.