Betances displays plenty of rust in his Mets debut
PORT ST. LUCIE — Dellin Betances was rusty in his Mets debut as the righty reliever lacked the typical upper 90’s velocity the crowd is used to seeing from him.
He hurled fastballs that settled between 89-90 mph and slower curveballs that fooled only Starlin Castro. Betances allowed back-to-back walks to open the game, recorded a strikeout then gave up a two-run single across 24 pitches during 1/3 of the fourth inning against the Nationals on Saturday.
Betances is coming off a right shoulder injury that sidelined him for all but one appearance in the 2019 season. He sustained a partially torn left Achilles upon his brief return in September for the Yankees.
“Obviously I’m not where I need to be just yet,” Betances said on his velocity. “I was just making sure everything kind of felt good. That was my biggest concern. I came out healthy which is the number one key for me.”
The righty said he isn’t worried about his fastball command because he’s usually a “slower starter than most.” He recalled having a similar outing — where his fastball settled around the high 80’s-upper 90’s during camp in 2014-15, which were his age-26 and 27 seasons.
Betances was ahead in the count 0-2 before he fell behind and walked leadoff batter Trea Turner. He tried to keep the speedy Turner close to the bag with multiple pickoff attempts, but he advanced to second base on a wild pitch.
“He’s hard to hold on,” Betances said. “I think I got out of whack — he was a little quick there. And then after that I kind of gathered myself, but I already threw a lot of pitches at that point.”
He was all over the place against his second batter in Victor Robles — throwing a wild pitch that bounced away from catcher Tomas Nido and a high fastball that skimmed by the hitter’s helmet. Betances settled down against Castro for a strikeout swinging before pitching coach Jeremy Hefner paid the righty a visit on the mound. Betances said Hefner was letting him know Ryan Zimmerman would be his final batter.
Since the onset of spring training, Betances has maintained that his previous shoulder injury is no longer an issue. His Mets’ debut was pushed back to Saturday to rule out any lingering concerns in regards to his left ankle or right shoulder. Betances expects to resume a normal spring schedule and return to the mound in two or three days.
While the initial results of Betances’ Grapefruit League debut should not be a point of concern, the 31-year-old’s lack of velocity is something to observe as he ramps up for the regular season.
“I just gotta trust that it’s gonna be there,” he said. “I didn’t pitch all of last year, [except for] two outs. And this was different than a normal offseason, just rehabbing my ankle and stuff. Continue to build, progress and get out there as much as I can before the season.”
ADAMS’ SCARY WEEK
Matt Adams returned to the Mets clubhouse after he spent over a week away from camp — including a trip to New York — undergoing cardiac screening.
The veteran slugger has been cleared to resume baseball activities and is grateful the tests are behind him. This was the first time Adams experienced cardiac-related issues and he called the process frustrating.
“It was probably the scariest week of my life,” Adams said. “It’s nice to be able to know that I got a clean bill of health.”
Adams chose to keep the alarming details of this past week to himself, saying “that’s a personal matter” and he just wants to move on.
“It’s frustrating that I missed a week and I felt good coming into camp,” Adams said. “I got that out of my head, knowing that there’s nothing wrong. So I’ll get back out there and do my thing.”
The first baseman will continue fighting for a spot on the Mets bench to begin the 2020 campaign. Adams indicated he’s not worried about the time he missed impacting his chances of making the Opening Day roster. He signed a minor-league contract with the Mets at the end of January.
Adams was sent for the cardiac screening immediately after Brandon Nimmo returned from a similar process — through Nimmo did not have to fly to New York for additional tests. Nimmo was aware of his irregular heartbeat since being pulled
aside from games for cardiac screening in 2016. Adams’ official diagnosis after being sent off for tests is still unclear.
“Just go out there and focus, take it day by day,” Adams said of his plans to make the roster. “If I get too far ahead of myself, I’m not going to be where I want. Have to hit the ground running. I’ve been having really good days since I’ve been back and I’m cleared to go. So I can only control what I can control and leave everything else up to the people that make decisions.”
Reigning National League Rookie of the Year Pete Alonso is the Mets starting first baseman, followed by 24-year-old Dominic Smith as his backup. Adams figures to receive pinch-hit opportunities, should he make the newly expanded 26-man roster. When Adams initially signed, the Mets noted that he leads all active major leaguers with 11 pinch-hit homers and 49 pinchhit RBI.
Adams slashed .226/.276/.465 with the World Series champion Nationals last year — his eighth season in the majors. He hit 20 home runs and notched 56 RBI with 14 doubles in the regular season, then went 1-for-3 with a run scored across four plate appearances in the postseason.