When 5 Isn’t Enough: An Ode to Pitching Pt 3: Chad Bettis

Chad Bettis is giving the Rockies all they could ask for. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome back to my series on ‘Do the Rockies have enough pitching combined between the Rockies and Isotopes.’ The Isotopes sent out another new starter today in the form of Boone Whiting, which means they have used 15 different starting pitchers in 50 games here in Albuquerque. The Rockies have used nine. So far we have looked at two that have pitched in both places: Jorge De La Rosa and David Hale. We will continue the series with another pitcher who has pitched for both the Albuquerque Isotopes and the Colorado Rockies: Chad Bettis.

Bettis flirted with being a starting pitcher for the Rockies in 2013 but was turned into a reliever in 2014. In 2015, he open the season in Albuquerque to work on being a starting pitcher again. He didn’t start well.

First up for Bettis would be Reno in Albuquerque. He would get shelled for 5 runs on 5 hits, walking two and striking out four. That would be his only bad AAA start.

Bettis would rebound against Reno at Reno allowing one run on eight hits, striking out five and walking two. He would get the win. He would follow that up with a good start in Tacoma taking a no decision followed by a rough sub 5 inning start in Las Vegas where he would only allow 3 runs but would need 98 pitches in four-and-two-thirds innings.

He would rebound with a 1 run performance at home against Salt Lake and finally a 3-run six-inning road start at Sacramento on May 8th. Then the Rockies would come calling because Tyler Matzek‘s mind would fail him.

Bettis’ first start against the Dodgers on May 14th sent Rockies Twitter into a flutter because he gave up runs quickly but settled in allowing four runs on seven hits, walking four and striking out three. The 7.20 ERA, no decision performance left Rockies fan wantiing more from his second start against the Phillies at Coors on May 19th:

Connor would come around on Bettis over his next two starts as he would get a no decision on a good performance against the Phillies allowing just 3 walking none and striking out five and getting a win against San Francisco allowing two runs in eight-and-one-third while striking out seven. Then came May 29th, 2015.

Chad Bettis, coming off his best start in his Major League career would head to Philadelphia. He brought the good stuff. He was rolling. 18 batters would come up and 18 would go back to the dugout. Then disaster struck. Troy Tulowitzki would error in the seventh allowing Ben Revere to reach. Perfect game over. But the No-No! It would take another inning before Cody Asche would break up the no-no. Bettis worked a gem. Eight innings, zero walks, zero runs, another seven strike outs, and a win. At the end of the day, Bettis had compiled a 2.96 over his four big league starts. He is averaging nearly a strikeout an inning and walking just over one a game. You really couldn’t ask much more from Bettis.

Can Bettis keep this going? That is the question everyone wants to know but I believe he can. Can Bettis be one of the needed ten for the Rockies? I believe he can be one of the five at the top not one of the five in reserve in Albuquerque.

A recap: The Yes’s: Chad Bettis, David Hale
The Maybe’s: Jorge De La Rosa

Tomorrow we finish looking at Starting Pitchers who have pitched for both the Topes and Rockies with Chris Rusin.