SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Shaking off a few jitters and the memories of his painful 2014 season, reliever Rex Brothers made his Cactus League debut Monday against the Cincinnati Reds.
It was just one outing, of course, but the lefty looked a lot more like the pitcher with a 1.74 ERA in 2013 than the pitcher with a 5.59 ERA in 2014.
“I felt great, and I threw both my slider and changeup well,” said Brothers, whose spring start was delayed a bit while he worked on his mechanics. “Ultimately, it felt good to pitch like that this early. I threw the ball for strikes.”
Brothers cruised through his 1-2-3 sixth inning on just eight pitches. He struck out Brandon Phillips with a nasty slider in the dirt, saw left fielder Kyle Parker crash into the left field corner to make a great catch, and then induced Jesse Winker to ground out to first. Brothers’ fastball topped out at 95 mph.
“He looked good with his arm speed,” manager Walt Weiss said. “Those are the types of swings he got on his slider two years ago. He was just out there competing, not overthinking anything.”
Said Brothers: “The biggest thing for me was just to get back out there and compete again after everything that happened last year. That’s what felt the best.”
Bettis’ debut. Hard-throwing right-hander Chad Bettis, now firmly entrenched as a starting candidate instead of as a reliever, will make his spring debut Wednesday against the Seattle Mariners in Peoria. He’s the last Rockies pitcher to take the mound this spring.
“I’ve been working on some mechanical things with my coaches,” he said, referring to pitching coach Steve Foster and bullpen coach Darren Holmes. “We wanted to instill being able to throw four-seam fastballs outside to right-handers whenever I want to. I want to be able to throw it down and away.”
After two live bullpen sessions, Bettis said he’s ready to unleash his stuff, with added command.
“That’s why we wanted to address this now instead of later, so that it’s a nonissue down the road,” Bettis said.
