In 2014 Dellin Betances broke the New York Yankees' single-season record for strikeouts as a reliever, which was previously held by legend Mariano Rivera. However, he's struggling during spring training, particularly with his velocity.
Betances currently owns a 5.40 ERA and 1.60 WHIP in five games (five innings) this spring, which is certainly not a reflection of his stellar numbers from last season. The right-hander finished 5-0 with a 1.40 ERA, 0.778 WHIP and 135 strikeouts in 70 games (90 innings) and earned his first All-Star honors as a rookie. So what's going on?
"I haven't asked about it, but it's nowhere near where it should be,'' Betances said of his velocity, via George A. King III and Dan Martin of the New York Post. "The more I pitch, that will come. Last year in spring training I trusted it more. This year I am trying to do too much instead of trusting what I have. The more I pitch the better I feel. I have always been like that.''
The 27-year-old topped out at 94 mph on Tuesday night and wasn't aware of the exact number, but he can feel his fastball isn't where it's capable of being. He was throwing in the upper 90s last season and even hit 100 mph on occasion (an average of 96.6 mph per fastball). Despite these troubles for the potential soon-to-be Yankees closer, manager Joe Girardi isn't worried.
"There's not concern for me now," he said, via Brendan Kuty of NJ.com. "If it was to go on for a long time you'd be concerned. But, I mean, he wasn't throwing 97, 98 (mph) this time in spring training last year. Power pitchers usually take a little bit longer to get going. I think he'll have a hitter or two tomorrow, the first time these guys will go back-to-back."
Betances thinks the decline in his velocity is because he's only pitched five innings this spring, as opposed to last year when he accumulated 10 1/3 innings at this point. He also thinks he needs to have more confidence in his usual approach. Perhaps his mindset isn't where it needs to be since he looked a little rattled on Tuesday night, throwing eight straight balls to kick off the fourth inning.
The good news is that right now there's nothing wrong with Betances' arm and he probably just needs to get back in the swing of things to find his heater again. New York will work on making that happen because they'll need him and fellow reliever Andrew Miller to anchor the bullpen in 2015.
