Dellin Betances has agreed to terms with the New York Mets for a one year contract with at least one player option. Betances is a well-regarded reliever in MLB although he is coming off of a season in which he pitched two-thirds of an inning. Betances will make 10.5 million dollars in 2020.
Betances has 1-yr deal with the #Mets with at least 1 player option year in 2021. @JeffPassan reporting it is 2 option years.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 24, 2019
Injury-Plagued 2019
Betances, a career-New York Yankee, was expected to be a major factor in the team’s 2019 bullpen. However, a shoulder injury arose in March. As a result, he was sidelined from Spring Training until September while dealing with various shoulder and lat issues.
Betances returned to record two outs in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays on September 15th in Toronto. He struck out both batters he faced in the outing. Another injury ensued as he injured his left achilles after being removed from the game. Once it was diagnosed as a partial tear, he did not pitch again in 2019.
Surgery was not required for Betances, who would go through a rehabilitation process.
Track Record
In 2018, his last full season pitched, Dellin Betances was his usual self. He pitched to a 2.70 ERA with 115 strikeouts in 66.2 innings. Additionally, he pitched to a 1.050 WHIP with a K/BB ratio of 4.42.
Betances took third in the 2014 Rookie of the Year voting, one year after Mariano Rivera retired. While Betances has never been the full-time closer for the Yankees, he has seamlessly replaced Rivera as a dominant force out of the their bullpen.
For his career, Betances has a 2.36 ERA with 621 strikeouts in 381.2 innings pitched. That equates to a career 14.6 K/9. Also, he has a career WHIP of 1.043, and a career K/BB ratio of 3.65. These number culminated to four consecutive All-Star Game appearances for Betances from 2014-2017.
Given the nature of his 2019 season, Betances will have to first prove that he is, and can stay, healthy. Once he proves that, he can start to re-establish himself as a dominant reliever and return to striking batters out the same way he has been throughout his career.
Main Photo: Embed from Getty Images
