Yankees Betances: No need to worry, I’ve got this one

The Yankees, like all teams these days, need that one guy in the ninth inning who can come in to secure a hard earned victory with no hiccups. The team cringed when it lost its closer for a while. But no need to worry. Betances has them covered.

When the Yankees and Dellin Betances clashed over the winter in a contentious arbitration battle, there were many, including the team itself, who wondered what the aftershock would be. Because through it all, Betances appeared to be shaken to the core of his personality that suggested he was a big ‘ole teddy bear going up against Goliath.

In retrospect, it’s likely that the Yankees would play it differently if given a second chance by at least putting a muzzle on Randy Levine. But by all appearances, Betances doesn’t need a do-over because he’s decided to put his mouth where his right arm is.

A native New Yorker, Betances was an eighth-round Brooklyn high school draft pick by the Yankees in 2006. A slow riser in the minors, Betances didn’t become a mainstay of the team’s pitching staff until 2014.

Since then, he’s put up numbers that are almost gaudy when you first see them. How else, for instance, can you characterize a 14.4 strikeout rate over nine innings, a WHIP of 1.01, and three consecutive appearances in the All-Star Game.

Takin’ the high road

What’s interesting, though, is how Betances is managing to take the high road this season, not only on the mound but in his overall presence as a Yankees reliever. NJ.com, for instance, reports that Betances says he has “nothing to prove” as a fill-in closer for Aroldis Chapman.

Wow. Ya gotta like that attitude. Moreover, he’s taken on his temporary role in style recording three consecutive saves in Chapman’s absence.

The reports on Chapman are good, and it appears he’ll be back early next week. But for the Yankees and all of baseball, Betances is proving that if you need me, just call my name.

Betances has kicked it up a notch

We’ve talked about this before and how confidence on the part of pitchers breeds success. And how difficult it is to stand alone on a pitching rubber to get the sign from your catcher knowing that all eyes are on you.

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You are the originator. You start the action. Nothing happens until you deliver the ball. And when you think about it that way, pitching at this level especially, becomes an art more than a science.

Because the pitch that you threw in a crucial situation that gets hit over the wall, that ultimately turns a game around rests on your shoulders and yours alone. And whether as we hear so often, you “missed your spot” or suffered a momentary lapse in concentration, the result is the same.

Dellin Betances, at the age of 29, looks like he has overcome that hurdle. He’s throwing pitches with a purpose in mind, and that’s half the battle, the keyword being “mind.”

And he’s helping the Yankees now in ways that maybe they wish they hadn’t taken that hardline stance with him in what now appears to be a quibbling battle over, what was it, a couple of million dollars?

Betances took the high road deciding that his only avenue of retaliation would be witnessed by his performance on the mound. And because of it, he’s the eventual winner. Because you just watch, the Yankees will extend him a contract that is worthy of his performance for the team.

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And in a week or so, Betances will quietly go back to his role as a set-up man for the $25 million man in Chapman, and the Yankees will return to their status as having the best one-two punch in a bullpen in the game today.