Reds Prospect Chase Petty Struggles Big Time in Second Start of Season

Reece Hinds did all he could to extend the Louisville Bats’ winning streak to no avail as the Louisville Bats fell to the Iowa Cubs 12-7.

The Louisville Bats played game two of their five-game series versus the Iowa Cubs on Wednesday afternoon. Chase Petty made his second start of the season. That start did not go like his season opener, where he struck out eight in 4 2/3 innings.

Chase Petty Struggles

Petty did not make it out of the second inning on Wednesday. After starting the inning with a 4-0 lead, Petty struck out the first batter of the inning, but the next batter homered to cut the lead to three. The next two batters reached on a single, a walk, and an RBI single. Petty struck out Hayden Cantrelle to record the second out of the inning, but he walked the next batter to load the bases. On the fifth pitch of the next at-bat, Johathon Long launched a hanging slider 402 feet into center field for a grand slam, blowing the game open and giving the Cubs the lead. The next batter reached on a single, and that put an end to Petty's day. The inherited runner scored on an RBI double from Pedro Ramirez against new pitcher Julian Garcia.

His final line was 1 2/3 innings, seven earned runs, five hits, two walks, and two strikeouts. A stark contrast to his season debut, where he had eight strikeouts, one walk, and no runs in 4 2/3 innings.

The Rece Hinds Show

Rece Hinds opened up the game early with a grand slam in the first. In the seventh, he homered again to cut the lead to one. Unfortunately, Louisville's pitching could not hold a lead on Wednesday afternoon.

In five games to start the season, Hinds is slashing .526/.600/.867 with three home runs and a triple. He has cut his strikeout totals down ever since returning to Louisville last season. He cut his strikeout percentage by 22 percent in that time frame. If Hinds is seeing this much improvement at the Triple-A level, it may be time to give him another try in Cincinnati. The only caveat is that he needs consistent playing time to really give him a fair shot. He was Louisville's team MVP in 2025.

Box Score Recap

Edwin Arroyo had his best game in his early Triple-A career on Wednesday. He went 3-5 with a run scored. Blake Dunn is also red-hot to start the season; he went 1-3 with two walks, an RBI, and a run scored. Dunn is batting .400 with a 1.088 OPS. JJ Bleday went 1-4 with a walk; Michael Toglia went 1-4 with a walk and two strikeouts; and Garrett Hampson went 2-4.

Chase Petty wasn't the only pitcher with issues on Wednesday. Andrew Chafin had four unearned runs but walked four in 2/3 of an inning. Luis Mey allowed three hits and an earned run in 1 1/3 innings with a strikeout.

Some notable pitching performances included Anthony Misiewicz, Lyon Richardson, and Kyle Nicolas. Misiewicz pitched two scoreless innings with a hit allowed and two strikeouts. Lyon Richardson went two innings with a hit allowed, a walk, and two strikeouts. Kyle Nicolas pitched a scoreless inning with a hit and three strikeouts.

On Deck

The Bats play again on Wednesday night. Julian Aguiar makes his second start of the season verus Javier Assad. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM.