Dellin Betances says the Yankees can’t expect his full velocity until May

New York Yankees reliever Dellin Betances indicated that his fastball won’t be at full strength until the second month of the 2019 season.

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Reporters keep asking New York Yankees setup man Dellin Betances why his early spring fastball clocks in around 90 mph. The big righty is obviously getting annoyed.

The 30-year-old is so aggravated, in fact, that he’s taken to answering the pesky velocity questions in the third person:

“I won’t be all the way until May,’’ Betances told the New York Post’s George A. King III. “I have done this already. It’s always been a topic. Whenever Dellin Betances is throwing 88 to 90 everybody freaks out and panics.’’

Despite the pedestrian pitch speed—which maxed out at 93 mph in his most recent outing—Betances hasn’t allowed a hit or issued a walk in two spring innings.

He’s even racked up two strikeouts with his diminished stuff.

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Yankees manager Aaron Boone told King that seeing his ace reliever’s radar-gun readings threw him for a loop. However, he’s not worried.

“Not overly concerned [about] the other day other than it caught me off-guard a little bit. I think he feels fine. It’s just a matter of building arm strength and when he had to leave here to go home for the birth of his kid that slowed him a little bit. At this point I am not too concerned about it.’’

Betances, a four-time MLB All-Star with a career 2.36 ERA, started training several days after the other Bombers’ pitchers. That delay combined with the pressures of being a new father and negotiating a possible contract extension could be taking a toll.

Perhaps the main point of this story, though, is that poor little Dellin Betances Jr. is quickly developing into a scapegoat for his daddy’s mound issues.

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