Betances: "If we don't win...it's not a great year for us''

TAMPA, Fla. – The disappointment of last year’s AL Championship Series finish, losing Game 7 at Houston, still weighs on Dellin Betances.

“We know what it feels like, we kind of have that sour taste in our mouth,’’ Betances said on Tuesday, as Yankees pitchers and catchers reported to camp. “If we don’t win (in 2018), I think it’s not a great year for us. It’s probably the first season I’ve ever come in with those expectations.’’

Betances, who turns 30 next month, also comes into camp with some uncertainty about his bullpen role following last year’s rough finish. Unable to repeat his delivery, Betances’s fastball command went AWOL and he lost his setup role – despite a fourth-straight All-Star appearance.

With the likes of David Robertson, Chad Green and Tommy Kahnle leading into closer Aroldis Chapman, “we have a lot of great arms in the bullpen and I’m ready to do whatever the team wants me to do,’’ Betances said.

MORE:Five takeaways from Yankees Aaron Boone's first spring training address

MORE:Yankees' Dellin Betances: 'I have to prove myself''

Betances has already been working on his delivery in the Dominican Republic and he’s due to throw his first side session on Wednesday. Plus, he’s down to a comfortable 264 pounds from the 280 he finished last season.

“For me, last year was a tough year,’’ Betances said, beginning with combatting the public criticism that club president Randy Levine leveled on his agent, following an arbitration loss. “There was a lot of negativity that came into the season. This year, I’m just trying to be as positive as I can.’’

This year, Betances avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $5.1 million contract.

Last October, “I wanted to do more. I know I wasn’t where I needed to be. It definitely hurt a bit, but I was enjoying the whole (playoff) process,’’ he said. Now, “if I’m where I know I’ll be, I think that we can take a major step and win the whole thing.’’

Briefs

New manager Aaron Boone isn’t ready to identify his opening day starter yet. “We’ve got a nice blend, a very interchangeable group,’’ Boone said of his front four of Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, Sonny Gray and CC Sabathia. Tanaka made his third consecutive opening day start last season, but Severino emerged as the club’s ace, finishing third in the AL Cy Young award vote.

In addition to naming starters at second base and third base, where rookies Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar lead the depth chart, Boone identified his crowded outfield situation, rotation depth and the designated hitter rotation as things to be sorted out in camp.