Dellin Betances on Yankees’ Lineup Strategy & Game 3 Pressure

Craig Carton (0:00)

Former New York Yankee, Dellin Betances, who I think is across the street right now at the dugout.

Chris McMonigle (0:04)

Yeah, he's getting ready for the dugout.

Craig Carton (0:05)

Getting ready for the big Corona pregame party. Dellin, it's Craig and Big Mac. How you doing, buddy?

Dellin Betances (0:11)

Hey, how you got doing, man? Thank you for having me. Oh, thanks for coming, Dellin.

Craig Carton (0:15)

Doing great, appreciate your time. Give me a sense, Dellin, as a guy that knows the area well growing up here, and also played for the Yankees, your expectation of this Yankee team and how they come out of the gate tonight for game three.

Dellin Betances (0:28)

Well, I think the offense has got to come out aggressive. I feel like they put themselves in the hole here. Max Reed is going to be great. He's been great all year, so I'm not worried about him. I think the offense has to find a way to get some guys on base and create some runs early, because I think Cash is going to be aggressive with his bullpen. So the offense has got to get going here.

Craig Carton (0:52)

Do you agree with the decision to play Anthony Volpe over Jazz Chisholm tonight?

Dellin Betances (0:58)

Well, if you look at Mick Martin's splits, righty have actually fared better against him, so I actually like the decision. And you know, Volpe played well in the wild card series, so you know, in a short series, you got to switch things up and you got to make decisions quickly, so I don't mind this right here.

Chris McMonigle (1:17)

Let me ask you a question, because this has been a talking point. I know you were a relief pitcher, but eight lefties in a lineup, do you think that is something where a pitcher can get, you know, even if it's the splits are worse or whatever and he's worse against left-handed pitching, the idea that all game long he's pitching the same way, he's able to find a groove, he's able to work on different things that he might not be able to against right-handed pitching, do you think there is something to that where these guys can settle in against a lineup that looks one way?

Dellin Betances (1:47)

You can definitely see that, especially for Nick Martinez. Nick Martinez is a guy that is a lot on his change-up, he throws it a good amount. So if that pitch is working for him, it could be tough for the lefties. It's a pitch that wasn't good for him later in the year, but it's a pitch that's usually good for him. So, if he gets grooved in there and feels good with that, it could get the Yankees, the lefties in trouble there.

Chris McMonigle (2:10)

And then offensively also, do you, a lot made about not long at bats, they really haven't worked the pitch count all that much, they're moving Trent Grisham to the top of the order, I think, to do that. Do you think they should be uber aggressive as they've been, or would you like to see the offense kind of make this guy, make Nick Martinez work a little bit to start the game?

Dellin Betances (2:29)

I think you gotta make, I think you gotta become all aggressive. Obviously Grisham has great at that, so he'll make them, you know, he'll see as many pitches as he can, but you gotta go in there and put pressure on the raised pitching. I think Cash is gonna be all like aggressive with his pitching stuff.

If he sees the lane there, he's gonna go after and put some of his relievers in there. They got Greg Boulton. So I feel like the Yankees gotta score some runs earlier.

Chris McMonigle (2:57)

And let me ask you about the mentality of this team. Obviously you're a part of the 2017 team that fell behind 0-2 to Cleveland, came back and won all three games, starting with a game three at Yankee Stadium. And it came with some controversy too, with a hit by pitch and Joe not challenging, as much as we had the errors here in game number two for the Yankees. But what's the mentality trying to come back from 0-2 home game three?

Dellin Betances (3:24)

Well, I mean, if we go back to that game, Masahiro Tanaka was amazing to me. He went seven in, where he didn't give up any runs. So you need that type of performance. For Max Freeze tonight, he had to be excellent. He was excellent in the wild card. He had to go out there and set the tone early.