Reds Make Announcement on Former Sonny Gray Trade Piece

Today, the Reds will find out what they got in Petty, as the team announced he will make his major league debut in the second game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals.

When Petty hit 100 miles per hour as a 17-year-old during the 2020 offseason, he turned heads in a major way, and polarized scouts on his projections. 

CBS Sports wrote when ranking him as the 37th best prospect in the 2021 class that "some envision him going in the crown-end of the first round, while others believe those individuals should be removed from their positions (and, perhaps, polite society)." The concern around Petty early in his career surrounded the risk of his hard-throwing, high-octane style of pitching.

Petty has been a top 10 prospect in the Reds organization since the Gray trade, with his peak being at No. 5 ahead of the 2024 season. He struggled with a minor elbow issue that slowed down his 2023 season but the Reds monitored and lowered his workload to prevent reinjury.

Petty spent most of 2024 in Double-A, pitching to a 4.39 ERA over 26 starts, but has pitched to a 3.00 ERA in seven Triple-A starts between the end of 2024 and the first month of this season.

This is only expected to be a spot-start for Petty, but still an exciting chance for the 22-year-old to show the team what he's made of.