L.E.S. Pitches

It’s getting to be a cliche to say that you wouldn’t believe you can find such-and-such in New York City (for example), but it’s not often you find a Major League pitching prospect from the Lower East Side:

To have a heart-to-heart talk with young Dellin Betances or to just look him in the eye, a stepladder would come in handy, because this 19-year-old baseball pitcher from New York City stands a whopping 6-foot-9-inches tall, without his cleats on. He has been affectionately nicknamed the “Baby Unit,” a reference to “The Big Unit,” Randy Johnson, the Hall of Fame-bound southpaw, because on a good day, Betances, a righty, throws heat up to 97 miles per hour, averaging around 93 to 94 miles per hour.

Better than winning the lottery, at 18 years old, Betances agreed to a $1 million signing bonus with his favorite team, the New York Yankees. During the draft, he had been sitting around at the home of Mel Zitter, his Youth Service League coach, when his older brother, Anthony, called to him from the other room, “You’ve been drafted by the Yankees!” Anthony had been feverishly following Draft Tracker on MLB.com when the notice came up that Betances was drafted in the eighth round, the 254th pick over all.

. . .

Young Betances attributes his success to his loving, supportive family, especially his mother, Maria, his father, Jaime, and his brother, Anthony, who are fielding questions about the rising star from their home on Avenue D. He thanks Anthony for teaching him the value of working hard toward his goals, and also telling him to quit high school basketball when he got two teeth knocked out. The basketball team’s big loss was the Yankees’ gain.

David McWater, founder of the L.E.S. Gauchos baseball organization, said when he started the Gauchos in 2002, all the young players in the neighborhood were raving about Betances.

“He was a schoolboy legend down here,” said McWater.

Rafael Roman, commissioner of the Felix Milan Little League, said Betances was a quiet — and just normal-sized — kid when he played with them on the East River Park ball fields on the F.D.R. Drive. Roman said he thinks it’s good for Betances to get out of the city and into, hopefully, a healthier environment.

“If he sticks with it, he can make it,” Roman said. “If he stays out of the street, he can make it. He has a very good head on his shoulders, and he can make it if he puts 110 percent into it.”