As a senior at Monterey, Chad Bettis already possessed a blazing fastball that dominated most high school hitters, resulting in plenty of attention from pro scouts.

Bettis had a chance to take that fastball straight to the big leagues, being chosen in the eighth round of the 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Houston Astros. Instead, he chose to honor his commitment to Texas Tech, and in just two years became one of the top relief pitchers in the nation.

Texas Tech's Chad Bettis will lead the Red Raiders into their season opener today against Jacksonville State at Dan Law Field. (Geoffrey McAllister/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

Now comes the next step. Still armed with a fastball that reaches 96 mph, Bettis is now a four-pitch pitcher with a cut fastball, curve and change-up, which again is bringing plenty of attention from pro scouts. Only this year, they’ll have to be there at the beginning of the game instead of the end.

Tech is taking its only true proven pitching commodity from 2009 and moving Bettis from closer to Friday night starter, in essence asking its most experienced pitcher to set the tone for the weekend.

“I think starting this year is what I want to do, for sure,” Bettis said. “I have to prove myself and prove to everyone else by starting that I can come out and go eight or nine innings and then hand it to (new closer Jay Johnson) to get the win. Closing you have to come in with the mentality of having to get the first guy out and role from there. Starting you control how fast the pace of the game goes and all that.”

The move is a bit of a gamble for both Bettis and the Red Raiders. In 2009, Bettis factored into 17 of Tech’s 25 victories, first as a starter and later as a reliever. He started in his first two outings of the season and also made road starts at Baylor and Oklahoma, picking up victories in both games and going at least eight innings both times.

After the complete-game win at Oklahoma on April 11, however,
Bettis was moved exclusively to the end of the staff as the closer. In his final 10 appearances, he was just 2-1 with one save but the Red Raiders were 7-3 in those 10 games.

Bettis, who on Thursday was named one of the 50 preseason candidates for the 2010 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award, finished 2009 as Tech’s leading pitcher in terms of victory (6) and ERA (3.59), and Tech coaches feel Bettis will have a bigger impact in 2010 as a starter instead of a reliever.

“Chad’s not a guy who forces it,” head coach Dan Spencer said. “He leads through action and by his performance, really. He’s not a chest-beater and just talks about it. He shows you. Don’t get me wrong, he’s confident and stubborn and all good guys pitch like that. But he leads by example.”

Bettis’ success this season could be directly tied to whether the Red Raiders take the next step toward once again becoming a factor on the college baseball landscape. From 1995 through 2004, the Red Raiders made nine NCAA tournament appearances, and most of the time a big reason was because of starting pitching.

Tech has not had a pitcher win 10 or more games since Steve Rowe did it in relief in 2002. The last starter to win at least 10 games was Brandon Roberson, who had 13 in 2001. The Red Raiders have missed the NCAA tournament in each of the past five years, and the closest any pitcher got to 10 wins was in 2007 when then-sophomore AJ Ramos won eight games.

The importance of winning 10 games is not lost on Spencer or Bettis, who is making it his goal to hit that level while also holding his ERA to 2.50 or under. Spencer added he’s not worried about Bettis getting too caught up in improving his draft stock or focusing on all the scouts that are sure to be in the stands for most games.

“To have a Friday-night guy who wins 10 games, you’re in good shape to win a series because then all you have to do is find a way to split Saturday and Sunday,” Spencer said. “If you’ve got a Friday guy who wins, then you go into Saturday with a 1-0 series lead, and that’s huge.”

Of course, a big key to making this move successful is the performance of the left-hander Johnson, a junior transfer from Sussex Corner, New Brunswick, Canada who has impressed coaches and teammates with a fastball in the low- to mid-90s and a slider and change in the low 80s.

More importantly, Johnson appears to have the right mentality for the role.

“I’ve just got a screw-you attitude that when I’m on the mound I’m better than anybody else,” Johnson said. “I have the command to get you out. Chad is good where he pitches and with him on Friday nights going into the weekend it helps a lot, and I hope that with the bullpen it helps a lot having me in there at the end of the game.”

As long as both ends of the staff can do their job, the plan should work to the benefit of helping the Red Raiders compile a winning record for the first time in three years.

“I think the team success is more important than mine,” Bettis said. “Whether it’s in the Friday night role or if something were to happen and I have to go back to the pen, I’ll do what I have to do to help this team this year. We have great expectations for this team.”

Red Raider Classic
-Who: Texas Tech, Michigan, Jacksonville State
-When: Today through Sunday
-Where: Dan Law Field
-Schedule: Today, Michigan vs. Jacksonville State, 1 p.m.; Texas Tech vs. Jacksonville State, 4 p.m.; Saturday, Jacksonville State vs. Michigan, 1 p.m.; Texas Tech vs. Michigan, 4 p.m.; Sunday, Michigan vs. Texas Tech, 11 a.m.; Jacksonville State vs. Texas Tech, 2 p.m.
-Radio: KTTU-104.3 FM
-Online: twitter.com/AJ Sports; www.redraiders.com

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