Colorado Rockies: Chad Bettis to undergo season-ending surgery

It has been an injury-filled 2019 campaign for the Colorado Rockies. On Sunday, Colorado’s pitching staff saw another season-ending surgery scheduled.

Thomas Harding of MLB.com, traveling with the team during their four-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals, tweeted this morning that Colorado Rockies reliever Chad Bettis will undergo season-ending bilateral hip surgery. The 30-year-old right-hander was placed on the injured list on August 17 (retroactive to August 14) with a right hip impingement.

Bettis appeared in 39 games (including three starts) for the Rockies this season, posting a 1-6 record with a 6.08 overall ERA. That includes an 8.22 ERA in 12 games (spanning 15.1 innings) since the All-Star break.

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Converted to a reliever in mid-April after giving up 14 runs in 13.1 innings over his three starts to open the season, Bettis seemed to find his groove in May, coming out of the bullpen in nine games and posting a 1.32 ERA, walking just three while striking out 13 in 13.2 innings of work.

Bettis, however, would post a 9.26 ERA in June and would give up four home runs in his nine appearances in July. After those struggles, he transitioned from the long reliever to a spot reliever in August and hurled five innings in the month while reportedly pitching through pain, according to Colorado manager Bud Black.

“Chad has had some hip discomfort for a couple of weeks. This hip impingement has caused him to finally get to the point where he couldn’t manage it,” Black told Rox Pile and other reporters last week. “His competitiveness and desire to pitch and battle finally got to the point where the hip was too bothersome for him to continue. That’s why we put him on the IL.”

Over his last 15 outings, Bettis logged a 9.04 ERA and 1.98 WHIP.

Bettis joins Tyler Anderson, Jon Gray, Scott Oberg and Seunghwan Oh as Rockies pitchers who have had their seasons ended by injuries. Anderson, Bettis and Gray were all part of Colorado’s opening week five-man rotation.