Bud Black’s gospel to Chad Bettis? Two words:
Consistency. Please.
“(With) Chad, especially, we’ve seen a lot of good from Chad, and there’s been some inconsistencies as well,” the Rockies manager said of the Colorado reliever before Sunday’s series finale with Cincinnati. “You know, (in the bullpen) we need them all.”
As the season’s dog days loom around the corner, Black needs arms he can count on in the middle and medium-leverage innings as a bridge to Scott Oberg and Wade Davis.
And with the right-handed Bettis, as of late, neither skipper nor Rockies fans are quite sure what they’re going to get: In 12 appearances since June 1, the 30-year-old reliever has given up no runs in six of them and two or more runs in four — including a stint late Saturday night that saw the native Texan take the loss after allowing six hits, a home run and four earned run in 1 2/3 innings against the Reds, shooting his season ERA to 5.