Chad Bettis To Begin Chemotherapy After Cancer Unexpectedly Spreads

1:15pm: Bettis spoke to the media, and the Denver Post’s Nick Groke writes that the right-hander gave good news on his prognosis — a roughly 90 percent rate of healthy recovery in cases similar to his own. Bettis says that “optimistically,” he’d be able to return to the baseball field as soon as this season.

12:29pm: Rockies right-hander Chad Bettis shared the frightening and unfortunate news today that the testicular cancer for which he underwent surgery earlier this offseason has unexpectedly spread. The 27-year-old’s full statement, which he shared on Twitter, reads as follows:

“During my routine health checkup last week, my oncologist believed that he had seen inflamed lymph nodes and ordered an immediate biopsy. I learned this week that my testicular cancer has unexpectedly spread, and I will begin a regimen of chemotherapy in the very near future. Although my blood tumor markers remain at normal levels, it’s clear that I need to be aggressive in my fight against this illness. Without being proactive, we wouldn’t have caught this. I am committed to beating this cancer. My family and I are grateful for the support of the Major League Baseball Players Association, the Rockies organization and you, the fans.”

While there are certainly baseball-related ramifications for the Rockies, the health and well-being of Bettis obviously takes priority. We at MLBTR extend our best wishes to Bettis and hope for a full recovery and, eventually, a return to the mound. Readers are encouraged to share their support and well wishes for Bettis and his family on Twitter.

Bettis had been slated to join Jon Gray, Tyler Anderson and Tyler Chatwood in the Rockies’ 2017 rotation a year after logging a career 186 innings over the course of a career-best 32 starts.