#7 Prospect: Dellin Betances

Age: 20 DOB- March 23rd, 1988

Height: 6-8

Weight: 215

Position: Starting Pitcher

Betances, a Brooklyn native, was selected in the 8th round of 2006 Amateur Draft out of Grand Street High School. In his Junior season at Grand Street, Betances flat out Dominated. In 41.2 innings of masterful pitching, Betances went 6-0 with a 0.17 ERA, 100 strikeouts, 11 hits, and 22 walks. Pure Insanity. A first round talent, Betances fell to the 8th round due to rumors that he would only sign with the Yankees. If he was to be drafted by another team, Betances would have been headed to Vanderbilt University where he had already committed to play college ball. Sure enough, he was picked by the Yankees and "persuaded" with one million dollars to come start his professional career early.
Betances has freakishly good stuff. He easily sits in the 93-95 mph range and can crank it upwards to 98 mph. Due to his tall stature, his fastball has an excellent downward plane and absolutely filthy movement. His knuckle-curve is also considered a plus pitch, but he still has trouble locating it. He also throws a change-up which is average right now, but has the potential to be plus too. His control is suspect, but he is big guy which means alot of moving parts in his mechanics, something which is easily corrected.
In his first season as a pro ball player, Betances continued to dominate. With a little mechinal help from Nardi Contreras, "Baby Unit" was repeating his delivery, something that usually isn't easy with big guys. In the GCL, the young stud pitched 23.1 innings with 27 K's, 7 BB, 14 hits allowed, and 3 ER. After his succesful stint at the GCL, Dellin started his second season with the SI Yanks where things didn't turn out as well. In 25 innings of work, he allowed 24 H, 10 ER, 27 K's, 17 BB. The Yankees then shut him down for the season due to elbow inflammation which sent Farm fanatics everywhere into a panic. Fans breathed a collective sigh of relief though when they found out that Betances in fact did not need Tommy John surgery.
Betances will start the 2008 Minor League season in Charleston, where he joins the most talented team in MILB. He should be poised for a big year, as he has been working with Nardi during most of the offseason working out the major kinks in his mechanics. Betances' ceiling is off the charts. He has all the potential to be an ace in major league baseball but he is still very, very raw. Hopefully for the Yankees sake, he can finally nail down his mechanics, his control, and master his change-up. We have a stud on our hands if everything works out right.