It’s a good Bettis he’ll be the Rockies’ ace
he Rockies don’t have an ace, at least not in the Clayton Kershaw sense of the term. The suddenly formidable Diamondbacks? They have a sparkling new ace after signing former Dodgers star Zack Greinke, a righthander, to a six-year contract worth $206.5 million. In Shelby Miller and Patrick Corbin, the D-backs also have two more pitchers who would qualify as an ace — at least if they pitched for the Rockies.
San Francisco has Madison Bumgarner. San Diego has James Shields, although he disappointed in his first season as a Padre when he gave up 33 home runs.
That leaves the Rockies as the only team in the National League West without a pitcher who has shown he can consistently be counted on to start a winning streak, stop a losing streak and give his teammates a rush of confidence every time he takes the mound.
“Wait a minute,” I can hear some of you scream, “what about Jorge De La Rosa?!”
I admire De La Rosa as much as anybody, and at times last season he was very good. His 8.1 strikeouts per nine innings were his most since 2010, and his 3.26 road ERA was solid.
But De La Rosa turns 35 at the beginning of this season, and keep in mind that assorted injuries limited him to just 149 innings across 26 starts in 2015. Finally, throw in the fact that he’s in the final year of his contract and will almost certainly be trade bait by July. So it’s tough to count on him for the entire season.
Assuming the Rockies don’t trade for a front-line pitcher — and that’s beginning to look like a solid assumption — who will be their quasiace in 2016?
My money is on right-hander Chad Bettis.
After revamping his delivery during spring training last year, Bettis went 8-6 with a 4.23 ERA in 20 starts. A cleaner delivery helped his fastball command, which in turn set up a nasty curveball and changeup. He effectively worked the bottom of the strike zone in the final portion of the season, going 3-2 with a 2.97 ERA in his last seven starts.
Just as important, Bettis has a warrior’s mentality. Jon Gray might be the Rockies’ most talented pitcher, but he’s still trying to fit into his major-league jersey.
“Chad’s got an adult mentality and seriousness about his craft, and a desire to be part of something bigger than himself,” general manager Jeff Bridich said during the winter meetings.
Bettis, of course, can’t solve all of the Rockies’ pitching woes, but I’m betting he is their best starter in 2016.
In case you missed it, two-time Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay, a graduate of Arvada West High School, fired a verbal fastball at Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds last week as the Hall of Fame vote came down.
Tweeted Halladay: “When you use PEDs you admit your not good enough to compete fairly! Our nation’s pasttime should have higher standards! No Clemens no Bonds!”
I have two thoughts. One, good for Halladay. Two, don’t we wish the players — and the media — had spoken out during the steroid era?
As ESPN’s Jayson Stark noted, after 51 years of the MLB draft, Ken Griffey Jr. last week became the first overall No. 1 pick to make it to the Hall of Fame.
The NFL, meanwhile, has sent 12 No. 1 picks to Canton — seven of them since the baseball draft came into existence. They are Troy Aikman, Earl Campbell, Lee Roy Selmon, Terry Bradshaw, Ron Yary, O.J. Simpson and some guy named Elway. Patrick Saunders: psaunders @denverpost.com or @psaundersdp