Chase Petty Shows Major Growth With Triple-A Louisville In Return From Injured List

The Louisville Bats activated Chase Petty from the injured list. He missed just one start. In his return, he was named the starter for the Bats’ matchup versus the Iowa Cubs, the Chicago Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate.

Chase Petty's Growth is Noticeable

Petty did not have his best stuff on Thursday, but that makes this outing more impressive to me for how he's pitched up to this point in his young career. The 23-year-old threw 79 pitches over six innings, 50 of which were thrown for strikes. In the opening inning, Petty retired the first two batters but allowed a single and a walk to get in a jam. He forced a fly-out to escape the inning. This was a theme throughout the ballgame.

Petty showed significant signs of growth in this outing. He only recorded two 1-2-3 innings in this game, but never let it get out of hand. He allowed a walk once in each of the first three innings, but went 1-2-3 in the fourth. In the fifth, he allowed a single, but the runner was caught stealing, and a groundout ended the inning. In his final frame, the sixth, he went 1-2-3 with back-to-back punch-outs to end the inning and his day.

His final line was six innings pitched, two hits allowed, three walks, and three strikeouts. An excellent outing for the Reds' seventh-ranked prospect. He earned the win as the Bats shut out the Cubs 1-0.

Box Score Recap

While the score was 1-0, this wasn't your traditional pitchers’ duel. Iowa's starter pitched just 2 2/3 innings with five hits allowed. Their reliever followed him with 5 1/3 innings with five hits and an earned run. The Bats were 1-9 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base.

Hector Rodriguez had a big day. He went 3-4, raising his batting average up to .280, and his OPS is now at .868. JJ Bleday remains hot. He went 2-3 with a walk. His average is now at .345 with a 1.128 OPS. He is well deserving of an active roster spot with the big league club at this point and should be the next man up. Francisco Urbaez is responsible for the only run of the ballgame. After a Michael Chavis single and a walk by Bleday, Chavis advanced to third on a double play. Urbaez ripped a double to center at 97.2 miles per hour off the bat to score Chavis and ultimately give Louisville the win.

The bullpen was impressive. Lyon Richardson and Luis Mey each threw an inning with no hits allowed. Mey allowed a walk but only threw 13 pitches. Trevor Kuncl got the opportunity to earn his first save at the Triple-A level and did not disappoint. Seven of his nine pitches were for strikes. He did allow a hit but forced a double play to end the game, earning his first save. Louisville allowed just three hits on the day.

On Deck

Louisville is back in action on Friday. Brandon Leibrandt gets the start with first pitch scheduled for 8:08 p.m.

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