April 30: The Reds announced earlier today that Callihan has been recalled. As a corresponding move, Candelario was placed on the 10-day injured list with a lumbar spine strain, retroactive to April 28th. Petty was officially selected to the 40-man between games and will be the 27th man for the twin bill.
April 29: A pair of Reds prospects will receive their first major league calls. C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports that right-hander Chase Petty will be tabbed to start the second game of tomorrow’s doubleheader against the Cardinals. He’ll go opposite Steven Matz in his major league debut. Meanwhile, Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 reports that infielder Tyler Callihan is also coming up.
Cincinnati will not need an active roster spot for Petty, who can serve as the allotted 27th man in the doubleheader, but they will need to formally select him onto the 40-man roster. They already have an opening after waiving Randy Wynne last week. Callihan is on the 40-man, but they’ll need to make an active roster move to accommodate his promotion.
Petty, 22, was Minnesota’s first-round pick in the 2021 draft. He didn’t spend a whole lot of time in the Twins’ farm system. Minnesota shipped him to the Reds the following spring in a one-for-one trade that netted Sonny Gray. It worked out well for both clubs. Gray had a fantastic two-season run in the Twin Cities, while Petty has become one of the better pitching prospects in baseball.
As a high schooler, Petty received plenty of attention for a fastball that ran into the triple digits. He’s not throwing quite as hard in pro ball, but he’s still averaging 95-96 MPH on his four-seam and sinker. Prospect evaluators credit him with a plus slider that serves as his best secondary offering. He rounds out a four-pitch mix with a cutter and changeup that’ll hopefully allow him to handle left-handed hitters multiple times through a lineup.
Baseball America ranked Petty third among Cincinnati prospects and among the back 10 of their overall Top 100 over the offseason. He landed among the sport’s Top 50 prospects at FanGraphs, while ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel had him in the back half of his Top 100. Keith Law of The Athletic had him outside his overall 100 but slotted him among the 10 best minor league talents in the Cincinnati system.
Petty spent most of last season in Double-A, where he turned in a 4.39 earned run average across 127 innings. He earned a late-season promotion to Triple-A Louisville, where he’s spent the first month of the ’25 campaign. Petty has pitched well through five starts. He carries a 3.52 ERA with a plus 27% strikeout rate. That includes six scoreless frames with seven strikeouts in his most recent outing last Wednesday.
Tomorrow’s appearance may simply be a spot start. Players promoted as the 27th man in a doubleheader are usually sent back to the minors the following day. Still, it’s unlikely to be the only time Petty gets the call this season. He’ll remain on the 40-man roster even if he’s returned to Louisville postgame. The Reds wouldn’t have made that move unless they anticipated Petty factoring in as rotation depth throughout the season.
The Reds added Callihan to the 40-man roster last November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. The left-handed hitting infielder has been on optional assignment to Louisville all season. He has raced out to a strong start to the season, batting .303/.410/.528 with four homers and six stolen bases in 24 games. Callihan has walked 16 times in 106 plate appearances, though he’s also punched out on 29 occasions.
Cincinnati’s third-round pick in 2019, Callihan has battled injuries (including a 2021 Tommy John surgery) during his pro career. He’s generally regarded as a bat-first infielder. Inconsistent minor league production had dropped him to 21st among Reds prospects on BA’s offseason list, but the Reds liked him enough to ensure they didn’t lose him in the Rule 5 draft. The hot start at Louisville earns him an opportunity to contribute to an infield facing some injury questions.
They’ve been without Christian Encarnacion-Strand for a couple weeks, while Jeimer Candelario is day-to-day with lower back soreness. Candelario went for an MRI today, according to the MLB.com injury tracker. A trip to the 10-day IL doesn’t seem out of the question. Callihan is primarily a second baseman and has experience at both corner infield spots (and in left field). Candelario had already ceded the starting third base job to Noelvi Marte, but Callihan could replace him as a bench bat.
Image courtesy of Imagn Images.
Shouldn’t abbot be able to pitch tomorrow, did I miss something?
double header
Right, and they already had the pitchers set for the series. Haven’t heard of any injuries to the scheduled starters. But I haven’t looked real hard.
You get the free roster spot for the double header so I think most teams use it to give their pitchers a little break.
It made me think Abbott could of tweaked something pitching in the Denver 40 degree mist last out.
I’m ready to see Petty throw one. Might need him if Lowder takes a while to get ramped up.
It is not as simple as a DH. Singer pitched last Wednesday, they had an off day Thursday and Abbott pitched Friday. This would have been normal rest for both. Considering Abbott is still ramping up, with the 27th spot for the DH, did it makes sense to rest him and skip his spot in the rotation or is there an injury that has not been announced yet.
Was either Chase Petty, or Gordon Earnhardt. Junior, Jr.
Surprised it wasn’t Ricky Bobby Junior, proving once again that if you ain’t first, you’re last.
All NC drivers are Ricky Bobbys!
It seems like forever ago that Sonny Gray was pitching in a Reds uniform. With Chase Petty making his major league debut tomorrow this goes to show you that sometimes it takes patience to see how a trade works out and there is no need to have knee jerk reactions two or three months after a trade.
Hope to see Petty put up a quality start and show us he can be another rotation stalwart for the Reds in the next year or so. With Greene, Lodolo, Singer and Abbot plus Lowder, Burns and Petty on the way I can’t ever remember Cincinnati having a rotation this loaded in my 40 years watching.
In fact, Joe, they were notorious for a while that they hadn’t developed home grown pitching (the last being Tom Browning), until Cueto, Leake, Castillo, etc. came along.
Nowadays, we want some good outfielders in the pipeline.
Castillo came in a trade with Miami not “home grown”
Luis actually spent the first half of 2017 on the Reds AA team. Not home grown, but “farm raised” a little. Chase Petty, Connor Phillips, and Brandon Williamson aren’t home grown either, but acquired and developed by the Reds .
Thanks for the correction cguy. I thought home grown meant drafted and developed.
Reds have to be seeking a trade for Martinez and possibly Singer too.
The only thing that somewhat compares is 2012, but this group of pitchers is better (especially when you include the prospects as you did).
Yeah, after Petty’s start today… I don’t know, “Joe It All”…
Sonny gray is with us now so take that reds fans
It’s nice that you have that consolation prize to ease the pain of this season and last year …
Hopefully Callahan being called up means the Candelario experiment is over, but I doubt Buffalo Bob will eat that bad contract that knowledgeable fans knew was bad, and unnecessary, from the outset.
“No, I won’t (get sent) back down. No, I won’t (get sent) back down.”
That ought to be his walk out song!
Petty needs to start the game in Bristol, and come out wearing sunglasses.
Just saying.
If it was a “one-for-one” trade that included Gray and Petty, why was Francis Peguero included?
Diaz needs to go to Louisville to try to get right, if he can. They can’t afford to do this in Cincinnati any more. His slider has no bite and he no longer has his command. Whether physical or between the ears, something is wrong.
The marlins game was the last straw for me
Hold the phone on that Nick Martinez trade, Chase Petty doing his best Kyle Gibson tonight.
On a positive note, rookie Chase Dollander had a nice start for the Rockies today (he got shelled in his first five)
The kid from KC Cameron went 6.1 only allowed one hit. KC has some nice depth in their rotation, looking forward to Kyle Wright’s return.
A lot of potential arms on the market for the trade deadline.
What a Petty move by the Reds.