Takeaways from Chase Petty's MLB debut

Before he ran onto the field for his big league debut, Chase Petty was giving high fives and bouncing around the dugout with the intensity of a boxer before a big match.

The word that everyone uses to describe Petty is moxie. He carries a chip on his shoulder as an undersized pitcher, and the top-100 prospect in baseball’s fire is one of his biggest strengths. His growth over the last two years in the minor leagues was about reigning that in.

A big league debut is a new experience, and an amped-up Petty allowed nine runs in 2 ⅓ innings in his first career game.

“He looked like he was ready to run through the line,” Terry Francona said. “He’ll learn. There’s a lot to like there. He’ll learn.”

Petty always has that energy, but he got a bit sped up against the Cardinals on the mound.

“He had a hard time,” Francona said. “He got to two strikes, and everything was hard. I’m sure he was amped up. It will get better.”

After the game, the manager saw a dejected face from the 22-year-old pitcher. Petty became the youngest pitcher to make a start in MLB this year, and he showed where he has room for development. Petty’s start was a spot start due to a doubleheader on Wednesday.

“He just couldn’t get his fastball where he wanted it and paid heavily for it,” Francona said. “I mentioned it before the game. His career is not going to be defined by tonight, and I believe that.”

Petty’s big takeaway from the game was his approach with two strikes. In the minor leagues, he took a lot of pride in developing his changeup into a standout out pitch. He throws five different pitches, and the idea is that he’ll always have the right pitch for the right moment.

On Wednesday, he threw almost entirely sinkers, cutters and sliders. The Cardinals were looking for high-velocity pitches to hit, and they capitalized when Petty left pitches over the middle of the plate.

“You’ve got to execute pitches for strikes,” Petty said. “It was a tough one. I know I’m better than how I performed tonight. I’ve got to execute better with two strikes.”

It’s a good lesson for him to take back with him to Triple-A. After the game, Petty was already speaking about watching the film from this outing and dissecting what he could have done differently.

“Only up from here,” Petty said. “I’m glad to get back out there and show what I can really do.”

The other big takeaway from Wednesday night

Chase Petty has a bright future and will be just fine, but his big league debut reinforced the importance of having him continue to develop in Triple-A. Petty got called up with less Triple-A experience than most Reds pitching prospects have had over the last few years.

A big issue on the organizational depth chart is the lacking overall starting pitching depth available to pull from Triple-A.

The Reds’ top-five starting pitchers (Greene, Lodolo, Abbott, Singer, Martinez) are healthy. But the next six pitchers on the organizational starting pitching depth chart are injured.

That list includes Carson Spiers (shoulder), Wade Miley (elbow, groin), Rhett Lowder (elbow) Julian Aguiar (elbow), Brandon Williamson (elbow) and Connor Phillips.

That’s more than an entire Triple-A rotation.

The last two weeks have reinforced how tenuous pitching depth can be. One day, Spiers is your sixth starter, and the next he’s out for six weeks. One day, Miley’s rehab progression is going great, and the next he suffers a setback in the form of a groin injury.

Miley is scheduled to throw off the mound again on Saturday. Lowder is ramping up, throwing bullpens and on track to start a rehab assignment. Aguiar and Williamson are out for the year. (I don’t have an update on Phillips, but he hasn’t pitched in a game yet this year).

Petty was next up in the Triple-A rotation on Wednesday and obviously struggled in his debut.

No other starter in the Louisville Bats’ rotation was in big league camp.

Drew Parrish: 27, 7.36 ERA this year, no big league experience

Randy Wynne: 2.66 ERA in Triple-A plus one big league game but a 32-year-old career journeyman who has been a swingman in Triple-A over the last few years.

Sam Bencschoter: 4.96 ERA this year, spent most of the last two years as a long reliever.

Aaron Wilkerson: 5.01 ERA, 36 years old, pitched in Korea in 2024, hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2019.