There are some players where you just know from the beginning; you know that they will be good, and forever be one of your favorites.
For example, I can remember the first time I was reading through MLB’s top 100 draft prospects for the 2013 draft, and I saw Aaron Judge, and I just knew. This kid is 6’7, has massive power, and one of the coolest names around? Yeah, those who worry he won’t be able to translate that power in-game know nothing; he is going to be a star and the Yankees need him. I was right.
The same can be said about Dellin Betances.
Courtesy of the NY Post
I can’t honestly say I knew about him prior to when he was drafted, but I do remember one day, as I was looking through the Yankees’ minor league affiliates, just to see who was there, I came across the future Yankee reliever. Boy was I excited; 6’8 and with a (then much rarer) upper 90s fastball that touched 100 MPH, AND he is a hometown kid? Sign me up!
Betances finally made his MLB debut in 2011, pitching in 2 games (1 start), to a 6.75 ERA, and he didn’t make another appearance until 2013 where the results were again not good – 6 games, and a 10.80 ERA out of the pen. Uh-oh, maybe I was wrong…
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 03: Dellin Betances #68 of the New York Yankees pitches in the fifth inning against the Oakland Athletics during the American League Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium on October 03, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
But then in 2014, the magic began to happen as Betances turned himself into a dominant, multi-inning relief ace; from 2014-2018 he put up 100+ strikeouts a season (the first reliever in MLB history to do so in 5 straight seasons), while posting sterling ERAs of 1.40, 1.50, 3.08, 2.87 and 2.70. For his part, he could hardly be touched, and he very well could have become an utterly dominant closer, but alas, he just so happened to be in a bullpen with other dominant relievers; first David Robertson, then Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman (with whom he formed the infamous “No Runs DMC”), and then Chapman again.
His fastball was a bullet, and his slider might have been even better with just how much it moved and made opposing batter’s swings look foolish; but it was his leg locking, knee buckling curveball that so often was the key to his success. When Dellin came into the game, Yankee fans could rest assured that more often than not, there was nothing more to worry about, no matter who was coming up for the opposition; he once even through an immaculate inning!
Unfortunately, 2019 put an end to the festivities in devastating fashion, and all it took was one game. In fact, Betances only pitched in one game that year, and for the first two thirds of the inning, everything was as it should have been – two hitters, two outs, two strikeouts. Then, without warning, Betances suffered a partial tear in his left Achilles; and just like that, his Yankee career was over in his age 31 season.
The big righty worked his way back and signed with the crosstown rival Mets for the 2020 and 2021 seasons; he pitched 16 games in total, 15 of them in the pandemic-shortened “Covid Season,” going 0-1 with a combined 7.82 ERA. Thus, far too soon, his career was over, as he retired midway into the 2022 season after a stint in the Dodgers organization; but his career line does a good job telling just how good of a player he actually was. In parts of ten seasons, Dellin Betances went 21-23, with an outstanding 2.53 ERA, and 633 strikeouts in 374 games.
Dellin Betances was once, and remains to this day, a Yankee fan favorite; and he will always be one of mine as well. I can’t tell my baseball story without mentioning a few key players, and in so doing, the tall, flame throwing, New York kid will always be remembered.
