PHOENIX — Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich approached Chad Bettis during the offseason, informing him that he would be a starting pitching with a chance for a spot in the rotation.
Bettis calls it a career-defining moment.
No more experimenting with the hard-throwing right-hander as a late-game reliever. No more messing around.
“We sat down last winter and Bridich said: ‘This is where we are going. We know you are on board because this is what you want,’ ” Bettis recalled. “He said, ‘We are going to let you go out and showcase your talent and do what you are most comfortable doing.'”
The conversation left a mark.
“For Bridich to say that with such confidence was huge,” Bettis said. “From that point on, I felt freed up. So, moving forward, it was all about doing what I had to do to be a starter again.”
It was a key moment for the Rockies, too.
Bettis, 26, has turned out to be a shining light in a decidedly dreary season for Rockies pitchers. Indeed, he has emerged as the most productive starter on the staff. After a stint on the disabled list for right elbow inflammation — it turned out to be a minor injury — Bettis has been very effective.
His final start of the 2015 season came Wednesday night in a 3-1 loss against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Bettis wasn’t razor sharp, yet he showed how far he has come in his transformation from thrower to pitcher. He left after six innings with the Rockies trailing 2-1.
Bettis allowed one earned run on six hits, walked three and struck out six. Since coming off the DL, Bettis has a 2.97 ERA.
He showed escapability Wednesday night. In the second inning, he gave up a leadoff double to David Peralta and then loaded the bases with two walks, but he got Arizona starter Chase Anderson to ground out to first to end the inning.
In the third, Phil Gosselin laced a one-out triple to right-center, but Bettis struck out A.J. Pollock and Paul Goldschmidt — the Diamondbacks’ two best hitters — to quash the would-be rally. Bettis got Goldschmidt to chase a 94 mph fastball.
The power-armed Bettis sat out most of Colorado’s Cactus League games while pitching coaches Steve Foster and Darren Holmes revamped his delivery, hoping to transform his fastball from a fat pitch over the plate into a weapon that painted the black.
“The work he did in spring training with Foster and Holmes was critical,” manager Walt Weiss said before Wednesday’s game. “Chad was very open-minded, very willing to make some changes mechanically.”
Specifically, Bettis had to learn how to throw his fastball down and away with consistency. Then he had to gain more confidence in his wicked curveball.
“As far as the weapons he has now, the curveball became more of a weapon than it had been,” Weiss said. “When he got command of that fastball, everything else kind of fell into place.”
Bettis said he never bucked at the idea that he first had to be broken down if he wanted to be a successful pitcher in the majors.
“I learned to have confidence in my stuff,” he said. “I’ve learned the value of changing speeds and what pitches to throw in certain counts. Everything is coming together.”
Bettis has even coined a phrase for his evolution: “I call it successful progress.”
Patrick Saunders: psaunders@denverpost.com or @psaundersdp
