The position of relief pitcher, or "reliever" has become divided into several types of specialized positions in recent years. We have the workhorse , the long relievers, , who have to be able to pitch multiple innings. The glamour job of relief pitchers is the closer, the guy who comes out to protect the lead, and save the game, in the ninth inning. Then there is the setup man, who will enter the game usually around the eighth inning to protect the lead for the closer.
Dellin Betances is a setup man. Although his parents were born in the Dominican Republic, Dellin was born in NYC, in the shadow of Yankee Stadium. Growing up, he was a Yankee fan, and has spent his entire career , including his minor league experience, with the Yankee organization.
Although his major league debut was technically during the 2011 season, he only pitched 2 innings, with 2 strikeouts, but gave up 6 walks and 2 hits, with a 6.75 ERA. This performance quickly bought him a ticket back to AAA Scranton-Wilkes Barre for the 2012 and 2013 seasons, where he caught the big club's attention again, with a 1.46 ERA and 63 strike-outs in 49 1/3 relief innings. Betances stayed the 2014 season in the Bronx.
Betances is an imposing figure on the mound, listed as 6 foot 8 inches tall (although this may be an error, as previous teams have listed him as 6 foot 4 inches. Incidentally, this is supposedly the reason he picked his uniform number as 68), and weighing 265 pounds. His fastball has been clocked at an average 96.5 MPH, although it has occasionally been clocked in excess of 100 MPH. His other pitches include an 89 MPH change-up, and an 82 MPH "slurve". His major league career stats include a 14-10 record, with a 2.16 ERA, 404 strike-outs and 22 saves, in 254 innings pitched. In 2014, his technical rookie season, he broke the Yankee team record for strike-outs by a relief pitcher in a season, with 135. The previous record of 130 was set by Mariano Rivera in 1996, and Betances actually pitched 20 innings LESS the Rivera to reach that level. Betances has been an American League all-star in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
In my opinion, Dellin has proven himself to be a team player, over the his 3 full seasons with the a Yankees, he has been the workhorse of the bullpen, he has easily fit into his setup role, despite multiple changes of personnel around him. He is always ready to enter the game , even when Joe Girardi expects him to pitch multiple innings. For all three of his major league seasons, he ha earned the league minimum salary, around $500,000. For the 2017 season, he was again offered $500,000, but for the first time he declined his contract and asked for a raise. Betances asked for $ 5 million, the Yankees came back with an offer of $3 million. Just for contrast, remember the Yankees signed closer Aroldis Chapman in 2016 to an $ 86 million six-year contract!!!
After a rancorous salary arbitration, the Yankee management prevailed, and Betances will be paid $ 3 million for 2017. I'm sure he will prove his worth again for the coming season.