Rockies starter Chad Bettis underwent surgery last month to have one of his testicles removed after he was diagnosed with cancer.
The 27-year-old right-hander said in a statement released to ESPN.com that his doctor noticed an "abnormality" and ordered blood testing to investigate. Bettis received the cancer diagnosis Nov. 28 and had surgery the next day, he said in the statement.
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Bettis said he expects to be completely recovered in time for spring training.
"I was completely caught off-guard by my diagnosis but have subsequently found that the vast majority of cases occur in men 20 to 40 years of age and that the survival rate is 99 percent when contained and caught early," he said in his statement. "This only reinforces my belief that each of us needs to be totally in tune with our own physical health, and that taking action sooner than later when we feel like something is off can sometimes literally be the difference between life and death."
Bettis was a second-round pick by the Rockies in the 2010 MLB Draft and just completed his first full season in Colorado's major league rotation. In a team-high 32 starts, he went 14-8 with a 4.79 ERA.
