With the Yankees being fairly active so far this offseason, they key move that they still need to make is bringing back Dellin Betances.
I really didn’t see the Yankees getting to the point where I would have to write an article about this. Dellin Betances, one of the best Yankee relievers of all-time, is still a free agent after a season in which he faced two batters and struck them both out. However, he would end up with a partial tear of his achilles tendon after that outing. Here are three reasons why the Yankees must bring Dellin Betances back.
One of the best relievers in the game
It is no question that when “right” Dellin is one of the best relievers in the game. He is a record-setting reliever, he was the first reliever ever to strike out 100 batters in five straight seasons. He has been mainly an 8th inning staple for the Yankees for a while now and is one of the best bullpen arms in the game. You need to keep a guy like him on your team.
Amazing K%/ low walk rate
We all know the Dellin is a strikeout machine, but just how much of a machine is he? In his last full season, he had a K% of 42.3, while the MLB average was just 21.7%. Dellin is not letting guys get on and is just striking them out. To show that, in 66.2 innings in 2018, Dellin struck out 115 batters. On top of his amazing K-rate, for the most part, Dellin limits the walks.
When he has his stuff, which for almost all of 2018 he did, Dellin would do his best to limit walks. He owned a respectable 9.6% BB rate. That came out to 26 walks in 66 innings. The walks never really came back to bite him as he would strike everyone out.
Limits the long ball
I state this all the time with Yankee pitchers, if you can limit the long ball you will be fine. It is very hard to even square up the ball off of Betances. In 2018, Dellin gave up only seven bombs in 66.2 innings which is good for a HR/9 of 0.9. Also, his average exit velocity on his pitches was great. The average exit velocity on his pitches was 84.5 MPH, while the MLB average was 87.5 MPH.
Overall, if the Yankees really want to have an unstoppable bullpen, they should definitely bring back Dellin Betances.