Rockies, MLBers rally behind Bettis after cancer setback

Colorado Rockies right-hander Chad Bettis provided the baseball world with some shocking and saddening news on Friday when he revealed he would undergo chemotherapy after learning his testicular cancer had spread.

After the 27-year-old made the announcement on social media, he was immediately met with an outpouring of love and support from his teammates in Colorado.

"He's always in our thoughts and prayers, and we're never going to be as full as a team with him not there," Rockies pitcher Jon Gray told MLB.com's Thomas Harding. "He's one guy I really look up to. I just hope he's OK.

"He's very professional. I see he works a lot harder than others. He's always on time - he was always better at that than me. Not just how much he works but the way he works, he goes about it the right way. It's something I want to be able to do too. He's like a big brother I look up to."

The love and support for Bettis didn't stop with the Rockies either. A number of big-league players reached out to show compassion toward the 14-game winner from a season ago.

Bettis was diagnosed with testicular cancer in November. He told Harding the cure rate is in the 90th percentile, his timeline is broad, and he'd like to pitch this year.