Dellin Betances is lucky to be on this Yankee team

When you read, "Betances made an appearance last night," it means:

1. The Yankees were way ahead.

2. The Yankees were way behind.

3. The ghost of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde showed up in Aaron Boone's dreams.

Last night, Dellin Betances appeared - rattling chains and going bump in the Yankiverse - and thankfully, it was due to a). And with due respect to Mr. Gehrig, Dellin should consider himself-self, the luckiest-iest, man-an, on the face-ace, of the earth-rth... because this is a Yankee lineup of blowouts and bombings, the only team outside of Scranton for which he now can pitch. Time is running out on the month-long Betances intervention. We can't do this forever.

Last night brought another mini-meltdown, one that - though conveniently forgotten in the final score - leaves exposed a fragile psyche that cannot be ignored. It's painfully clear that that the Betances we once knew - the monster who terrorized batters and made all-star teams - has become the exploding cigar in a pile of Havanas. We now see a Dellin who is always one pitch away from imploding, who cannot hold runners, who cannot throw to first, and who cannot be brought into a game without a replacement warming in the pen. We can do this in April. I'm not sure we can in May.

Thus far in 2018, the Yankees have seen several players - Giancarlo, the most famous of them - with adjustment issues. But there is a difference between a welcome-to-NY slump and someone going full-tilt, Glenn Close-bunny-boiling-psycho - as Betances has done repeatedly. He has sandwiched solid outings with stinkers, where everything abruptly goes south. Clearly, Boone is trying to bring him along, and there is wisdom in patience, I suppose. Betances had thrown two straight scoreless outings in a row... reason for hope... before last night.

At some point, the Yankees must call the cards: Put Betances on the DL, send him to Tampa to work with a pitching coach and a shrink, and come back on a rehab assignment. I don't know the paperwork involved with rehabilitating a pitcher with a tweaked psychological gonad, but Betances needs a reset button. If the Yankees cannot give him one, it may have to come with another franchise. Right now, no lead is truly safe with Betances on the mound, and that is a terrifying reality.

Listen: We all want this guy to succeed. He's a lifelong Yankees. He's only 30. Physically, he has three to four years left. Mentally, though... yeesh. Something is broken. We can't do this all season.