The New York Mets signing right-handed reliever Dellin Betances to further bolster their bullpen this offseason was a potentially huge addition, but not without risk.
The gamble, of course, was committing scarce funds to a 31-year-old who missed all but two-thirds of an inning in 2019 due to right shoulder issues in April followed by a torn Achilles tendon suffered in his first game back for the Yankees in September.
Up until his injury-plagued 2019 season, the Lower East Side native was among the game’s best relievers, pitching to a 2.36 ERA (2.31 FIP) with 14.64 strikeouts per nine innings from his MLB debut in 2011 through 2018, good for 13th and third, respectively, among all qualified relievers over that span.
From 2015 through 2018, Betances’ .165 expected batting average and .253 expected slugging percentage both ranked among the top one percent of all major league pitchers, as did his 40.7% strikeout rate. Cliff’s Notes version? Betances has been elite. The Mets are banking on the hopes he can reclaim that four-time All-Star form.
The one-year, $10.5 million, incentive-laden deal ($2.2 million base, $5.3 million signing bonus, escalating/vesting player options in 2021 and 2022) that brought Betances to Queens certainly encompasses the best of both worlds, limiting the Mets’ investment for an above-average player and allowing Betances to earn himself his next lucrative free-agent contract.
The Mets have been proceeding with caution regarding Betances’ progress this spring. He’d been throwing live bullpen sessions and continues to insist he’ll be ready for Opening Day. But for a player coming off a lost season — no matter the track record –, there will always be justified anxiety.
Concerns were raised earlier this week when reports of a lack of velocity began to surface (not the first time) but Betances seems unfazed by his slow start.
“I’ve known myself for a long time,” Betances told reporters on Tuesday (Anthony DiComo, MLB). “I know right now, it’s not coming out the way it would come out during the season. It takes me a little bit to get that going, but I know everything’s been good […] We have enough time for that.”
Apparently, he and the Mets are comfortable enough in where he’s at in the process, because Betances is being ramped up to game action.
According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, Betances — who told reporters, “It’s like I’m graduating” — will make his Grapefruit League debut on Saturday versus the Nationals at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie.
Fastballs in the mid-to-high 90s probably shouldn’t be expected, but it will certainly be reassuring — and pretty darn exciting — to see Dellin Betances, clad in blue and orange, taking the mound after Steven Matz — scheduled to return from illness — on Saturday.
We’ll keep you posted with more information as it becomes available.
