The moves before Wednesday’s doubleheader are in!
The Omaha Storm Chasers blitzed Chase Petty in his season debut, shelling him for 6 ER in just 3.1 IP back on April 2nd.
Fortunately, the Top 100 overall prospect and resident ace of AAA Louisville bounced back quickly. Over his next four starts, he logged 19.2 IP of 3 ER ball, fanning 23 against just 7 walks and looking much more like the former 1st round pick he is.
He’ll get the start for the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday evening in the second game of a doubleheader in GABP against the St. Louis Cardinals, as the Reds called him up as the team’s 27th man before the games. As MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon relayed, that was part of a two-part transaction, as the club also placed the struggling Jeimer Candelario on the 10-day injured list with a back issue and recalled Tyler Callihan in his stead.
Candelario is going on the 10-day IL with a lumbar spine strain (retro to 4/28). IF Tyler Callahan recalled from Louisville.
Also Chase Petty is coming up from Louisville and will start Game 2 for the Reds tonight.
— Mark Sheldon (@msheldon.bsky.social) 2025-04-30T13:52:52.792Z
Petty, who was the 1st round pick of the Minnesota Twins back in 2021 prior to being acquired by Cincinnati in the Sonny Gray deal, will be making his big league debut.
When we say Candelario has ‘struggled,’ it’s hard to emphasize just how struggle-ish that truly was. He picked up a pair of hits on Opening Day, which was cool, but has gone just 7 for 77 since (with an incredibly bad .367 OPS in that time). That’s good for a -3 wRC+ in that time, which you’ll be unsurprised to hear is the single lowest mark of the 169 big leaguers who’ve logged qualifying playing time in that span.
Candelario had only started once since April 23rd (on April 27th), but at least the Reds can back date the IL placement to April 28th.
Callihan was the Reds 3rd round pick back in the 2019 MLB Draft and signed for an overslot amount out of high school. He’s been regarded as a plus bat throughout his MiLB career, but injuries have repeatedly kept him from being on the field often enough to truly show it. That’s changed since he reached AAA, however, and his .938 OPS so far this year has shown a mix of ability from taking walks to socking homers and taking triples. His versatility should allow Terry Francona to have an all-around-the-diamond utility guy on his bench for the coming period while Candelario recovers, and honestly, it’s impossible that his bat is any worse.