Colorado Rockies injury updates: Ian Desmond and Chad Bettis

Prior to the Colorado Rockies taking on the Miami Marlins in the first of a three-game series in south Florida, Colorado manager Bud Black addressed the media in the dugout. During his time with Rox Pile and other media members, Black discussed the prognosis for injured outfielder/first baseman Ian Desmond and answered a question regarding if starting pitcher Chad Bettis would make his return to the mound on Monday night.

First came the update on Desmond, who is on the disabled list for the second time this season with a right calf strain. Desmond injured the calf twice in July, including the latest strain that occurred on July 25 in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. He has been on the disabled list since July 28.

Black had said earlier in the week that Desmond’s injury was healing slower than expected. On Friday, the Colorado manager said Desmond was still “a ways away” from returning to action.

"“We’re going to talk about that. I’m going to talk to Ian about that moving forward,” Black said in reference to a possible rehab assignment for Desmond before he rejoins the Rockies. “He’s still a ways away from that. The farther he gets away from the injury that reoccurred in St. Louis, the likelihood increases that he’ll go out on a rehab.”"

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Black also addressed the rumor that Bettis would draw his first start of the season on Monday night when the Rockies returned to Coors Field to face the Atlanta Braves. The 28-year-old right-hander was diagnosed with testicular cancer in the offseason and had to undergo chemotherapy during spring training after test results showed the cancer had spread.

After reaching 90 pitches in a Triple-A game and bullpen session in his last rehab outing, many predicted that Bettis would be ready to make his emotional return to Coors Field. However, Black wasn’t ready to proclaim that on Friday in Miami.

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"“It could be Bettis. It could be (Antonio) Senzatela. It could be (Tyler) Chatwood. It could be all of those guys,” Black said when asked who would start Monday’s game. “I’ll give you the answer in the next couple of days.”"

Note: A tweet from Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post came after publishing this article. An interesting readying Bettis has not been told anything about Monday and he may make one more Triple-A start.