When healthy, Aroldis Chapman is of course the undisputed Yankees closer. However, Chapman recently hit the DL with a rotator cuff injury. That means lockdown setup man Dellin Betances -- he of the career 197 ERA+ -- will move into the closer's role while Chapman is laid up.
Speaking of Betances and closing duty, you'll recall what Yankees president Randy Levine had to say about the dominant right-hander after the club defeated him in an arbitration hearing this past offseason (by way of background, Betances and his represents filed for $5 million for 2017):
"Five million dollars goes to elite closers. Pitchers who pitch the 9th inn and have a lot of saves. Dellin didn't have that record. He never did. It's like me saying, I'm not the president of the Yankees, I'm an astronaut. I'm not an astronaut and Dellin Betances is not a closer."
As noted at the time, this doesn't reflect well on Levine. It's petty and babyish -- to repeat, the club won the arbitration hearing -- and it also betrays a fundamental ignorance regarding what makes relievers valuable and the risibly antiquated nature of the arbitration system. Levine might be a good club president (although it's hard to go wrong with the Yankees' brand and structural advantages), but he doesn't seem to know much about baseball.
In any event, now that Betances is indeed the closer of the contending Yankees, Levine has apparently changed his estimations ...
yankees prez randy levine, who'd said betances isn't a closer, says now: "He's going to do great. He's ready. I have full confidence ..."
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 16, 2017
levine had disputed betances' closing credentials. what's changed? "That was arbitration, based on the past. But he's ready to do it now."
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 16, 2017
levine, who famously suggested he was as much an astronaut as dellin was a closer, concluded, "I have full confidence he'll do a great job."
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 16, 2017
All right. So ... Betances in February? As much of a closer as Levine is an astronaut. And 12 innings later? Totally ready to be a closer, that guy. For what it's worth, Betances entered the 2017 season with 22 saves -- that stat dear to Levine's heart.
As for the man himself, here's what Betances said about the change in role, via NJ.com:
"I've been pitching three years already. I don't think I have to prove anything. I've just got to do my job."
As ever, the word "closer" describes usage and deployment, not inner fortitude or veins pumping clutch gravy through one's body or whatever. It's almost as though Betances knows more about pitching than America's Worst Astronaut does. Almost.
