The Cincinnati Reds have optioned right-handed pitcher Chase Petty back to Triple-A Louisville after he made a spot start for the team in last night’s loss to the Washington Nationals. The Reds are replacing him on the roster with Ron Marinaccio.
Petty is heading back to the minor leagues less than 24 hours after stepping in to help the club out when they needed someone to start the game when Hunter Greene went down with an injury earlier in the week and left Cincinnati without a starter. He allowed three runs – two of which were earned – in 1.2 innings before the rest of the game was turned over to the bullpen. The Reds would go on to lose 5-3.
Ron Marinaccio is joining the Cincinnati Reds bullpen after being claimed on waivers two days ago. He’s spent the 2026 season between the San Diego Padres and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pittsburgh traded for him on July 23rd but then waived him two weeks later. That’s where the Reds stepped in and put in and won the waiver claim.
Marinaccio has been in the majors in parts of each of the last five seasons. He’s pitched for the New York Yankees, as well as the Padres and Pirates. As we noted when he was claimed on waivers – he had a 3.02 ERA for his career in 108 games before the 2026 season. This year that ERA jumped up to 4.79 with San Diego and 6.75 in his limited time with Pittsburgh.
There could be a lot more going into what led to the ERA jumping up nearly two full runs over his career average, but one thing stood out when you took a deeper look at things. He began to throw his cutter a lot more and his fastball a lot less in 2026 than he has in the past. Keep an eye on how his pitch usage compares with the Reds to his other two teams as the rest of the season plays out.
You can see the career stats for Ron Marinaccio here.
Could this guy help the team? Let’s see…
Is any update about Derek Johnson? Excuse me if I missed something new about him , as far as I know, he has kind of indefinite leave of absence
Hopefully it is permanent. The pitching hasn’t really improved due to his coaching, if anything the bullpen has gotten worse. Francona needs a guy like his old Indian/Gaurdian PC Carl Willis .
I’ve always remembered that Sparky and his Pitching Coach Larry Shepard helped a struggling reliever by having him start a game or two and letting them go a long as they could. He said this allowed them to throw all their pitches, while adjusting their mechanics in a non-serious critical situation. I think though not a starting role but similar for Luis Mey last night and the results were very good. Think I wouls start him in Greene’s spot for a couple weeks and see what happens.
Couldn’t have anything to do with pitchers themselves and the injuries, could it?
Carl Willis was a Reds P back in the day. Mid 1980s for a few years.
I just wish somebody could ask a question, not a softball toss, to our manager about the use of Hayes. I want him to succed just like any fan of the reds, but if i was doing my job over the last year, like Hayes has been struggling through, I wouldnt have one….
I wish Krall would remove him from the roster so that Tito wouldn’t feel the obligation/pressure to play him. When trading Lowe it was kind of the exact opposite.
Because he is under contract and Krall wont admit a mistake on another terrible trade. If he was valuable the pirates would have never traded him to team inside their own division, they knew he was finished. To justify the trade he stays on the roster and plays way more than he should. He’s hitting worse since he came back from the injured list. I know the comments are coming about his glove is so valuable, its not and also when you are hitting 138 you shouldn’t be on any roster. Should of kept Lowe and put Sal at 3rd and let Geno dh.
“Should of kept Lowe and put Sal at 3rd and let Geno dh.”
Can’t argue with that and I might add cut KBH to give his roster spot to HRod.
Jim Day asked MM about that on a rain delay podcast. MM replied that Hayes was a premier defender and helped the Reds in that way.
I don’t remember his exact words. Hayes is the whipping boy in 2026 like Luke Weaver was in 2023. Weaver is now one of the best setup relievers in MLB.
Luke Weaver
5.86 ERA with the Reds
-0.7 WAR
1.64 WHIP – WOW
2.2 HR/9
3.2 BB/9
All career lows in his 10 year career.
Weaver was awful with the Reds. And so is Hayes. Yes, you loved Weaver when he was here. And yes, Weaver has been great since leaving Cincinnati. That doesn’t erase his poor pitching as a Red.
Hopefully reds fans won’t see hays and saurez on the team. Release saurez and send hays permanently to minors
@Melvin, agreed!
And I agree with all three of you.
How does sending Petty back to the bushes help his development? I have zero interest in Marinaccio and neither should you.
It probably doesn’t. But Petty wasn’t going to be available to pitch for three days and that’s why he got optioned. This isn’t 1997 anymore – teams just use and abuse their bullpens and if you can’t pitch for two days and have options and aren’t a 7-8-9th inning guy, you’re going to the minors. It sucks. It’s dumb. But that is just unfortunately how the game is managed these days.
If the only reason Petty is on the roster is to pitch when he’s “available,” the Reds are misfiring one of their last viable pitching bullets. Three options: Make him a starter and get him into the rotation (recommended), or turn him into a multi-innings reliever and get him into the rotation (better than trying to scrounge up meat from AAA) or third, swap him for a pitcher who can actually do either of those things (a pretty dumb, but predictable option).
I get it that they can yo-yo him back to Batland, but they don’t do that with the other starters or relievers. Petty isn’t learning to be anything but a guy you put on the bus every 5th day.
As a rule, I am not a basher of the process. I get it, more or less. It’s just time for Petty to pitch in the majors — and seek his own level of competency.