"There's a different mentality out of the bullpen," Betances said. "You're only going to face the guys once; as a starter, you face them two or three times. It's definitely a little different."
Outfielder Jose Abreu of the White Sox and pitcher Matt Shoemaker of the Angels have also been selected as finalists alongside Betances, 26. The candidates were selected by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Making his first Opening Day roster with a stellar spring, Betances used a high-90s fastball and a biting slurve to dominate big league hitters, fanning 135 in 90 innings and shattering Mariano Rivera's 1996 franchise record for strikeouts by a reliever.
Dellin Betances surpassed Mariano Rivera for the most single-season strikeouts by a reliever in franchise history.
"He's been awesome for us all year," Derek Jeter said late in the season. "It seemed like Mo pitched two innings every time toward the middle and end of '96; Dellin's been doing the same thing. He's pitched a lot of innings. Anytime he gets guys on base, he's capable of getting out of trouble because he can strike guys out."
Velocity had never been an issue for the 6-foot-8 Betances, a product of Brooklyn's Grand Street Campus High School, but his out pitch developed as a result of that Minor League demotion in 2012. He had been sent back to Trenton after posting a 6.39 ERA at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Betances' mechanics were off, his command was not sharp and he had been affected by repeated nail issues when throwing his curveball. Betances quickly picked up the slurve grip from teammate Mikey O'Brien, a right-hander who is now in the Reds organization.
"I was trying to throw an extra pitch because I couldn't throw my curveball for strikes that year," Betances said. "I worked with [O'Brien], just kept throwing it. I went to the [Arizona] Fall League and it felt good. I was like, 'Man, this could be a good pitch to throw.'"
With some tinkering, Betances found the slurve to be a more effective and reliable weapon than his old curveball, giving him a solid 1-2 punch to use coming out of the bullpen. Betances also sprinkled in a changeup, his third-best pitch, just to mix things up.
"Those struggles helped," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "When you struggle and you're able to get back up and fight through it, it helps you down the road, because it's not always going to be easy in this game. What a year he's had."
Moving into a setup role behind closer David Robertson, Betances finished the season with a 5-0 record, one save and a 1.40 ERA in 70 appearances.
7/7/14: Dellin Betances gets Nick Swisher to fly out to right for the final out in the 9th, securing his first Major League save
Betances led all AL relievers in innings pitched, holding opponents to a .149 batting average and ringing up the most strikeouts by a rookie reliever since Mark Eichhorn of the Blue Jays fanned 166 in 1986.
"My focus was on making the team," Betances said. "I knew that if I believe in myself and I had the confidence going into spring, that I was going to get that job. I can't tell you that the numbers would be the way that they are, because you're facing great hitters on a daily basis."
With Robertson eligible for free agency -- the right-hander received a qualifying offer this week, valued at $15.3 million for one year, and must reply with a decision by Monday -- Betances' emergence gives the Yankees an insurance policy in the event that Robertson wears another uniform in 2015.
Regardless of his future assignment, the Yankees have many reasons to be optimistic about what Betances will do for an encore.
Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @bryanhoch and read his MLBlog, Bombers Beat. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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