Chase Petty Pitches His Way Into Reds’ Nearer-Term Plans
A spring elbow injury kept righthander Chase Petty off the mound at the outset of 2023.
After five weeks on the injured list, Petty joined the High-A Dayton rotation in May and allowed only one earned run in his first five starts. He never looked back.
Petty made 16 starts for Dayton and posted a 1.95 ERA in 60 innings during his time in the Midwest League. He joined Double-A Chattanooga in September and didn’t allow an earned run in two starts.
When his season was over, Petty hadn’t allowed a home run. His 1.72 ERA was backed by 66 strikeouts and 15 walks in 68 innings. His 56% groundball rate led the Reds’ system and was one of the highest by a minor league starter.
Cincinnati limited Petty’s use during as he came back from his elbow injury. In no start did he pitch beyond the fourth inning. Nor did he top 67 pitches in a game.
While he was limited in his workload, the 21-year-old was still able to develop.
“He developed better fastball command, which is always important,” Reds vice president of player development Shawn Pender said.
The Reds traded Sonny Gray to the Twins in March 2022 to acquire Petty. Minnesota had drafted him 26th overall in 2021 out of high school in New Jersey.
In addition to refining his fastball command, Petty also developed his changeup as a quality secondary option in 2023.
“High school kids don’t typically use the changeup much—in particular guys like Chase, so we were pleased with that,” Pender said.
Though he is young, Petty’s combination of three quality pitches, control and groundball tendencies could have him in the mix for a callup to Cincinnati this summer if the club needs reinforcements.
