Colorado Rockies morning after: Why Tuesday night will be special

Chad Bettis and Jameson Taillon have been mentioned in the same breath often for more than a year now. On Tuesday night at Coors Field, the Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates starters will be linked together by opposing each on the mound.

Starting against each other in a pivotal National League series and having that be the connection is a much better reason than why the duo have been linked in the past. Bettis and Taillon both have battled through testicular cancer last season and blisters this season. Both ailments have cost them time away from the Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates, respectively. Both have been frustrated to miss time on the mound.

Each is hoping to put the past behind them and get off to a fresh start on Tuesday night in downtown Denver.

Taillon, the 26-year-old right-hander, is 8-8 this season with a 3.74 ERA in 22 starts. He also made headlines earlier this season with, shall we say, an interesting remedy on how to possibly cure the cut on his pitching hand.

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Bettis, the 29-year-old right-hander, is 5-1 this season with a 5.10 ERA in 17 starts. He was placed on the disabled list on July 3 with a blister on his right middle finger. After three starts in Triple-A, Bettis will be activated prior to Tuesday’s outing and take his place in the rotation, Colorado manager Bud Black told media members, including Rox Pile, on Monday afternoon.

"“That will be really cool,” Bettis said of the matchup against Taillon before it was officially announced he would be starting. “It would be really nice for that to happen.“We still stay in touch here and there. I reached out to him when I first got a blister. Just trying to pick some other guys’ brains around the league who have been affected. Seeing what they’re doing and if they’re doing something different than what we’re doing. Really just trying to get it right. He had some good insight. There were a couple of things that he was doing that we could try and see how it worked out. It was good to get some feedback from him.”"

Taillon reached out to Bettis to ask questions after being diagnosed with cancer. Bettis reached back to Taillon to get some advice to overcome a blister. It is said that baseball players have a certain camaraderie within the brotherhood that can’t be understood unless you’ve put on a pair of cleats and stepped onto a Major League field. It’s obvious that these two have a bond that has served them both well, mentally and physically.

Sure, to many fans, it will look like two pitchers taking the mound in a regular game on Tuesday night. But there is more to it than that. These are two survivors who are now trying to help their team survive a jumbled and frantic National League race to the postseason … and will do it while facing each other.