It only took two games for Terry Francona to alter his plan for this Reds rookie

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Chase Petty will not be starting on Saturday afternoon against the Cleveland Guardians. According to Cincinnati reporter Charlie Goldsmith, Reds manager Terry Francona has decided to roll with Brent Suter as the opener for Saturday's contest against the Guardians and Petty will follow. This is a brilliant (and necessary) move on the part of Francona, and one that will hopefully yield positive results.

Petty has been abysmal during his first two starts of the season. The right-hander was called upon as an emergency starter late last month as the 27th man for the Reds doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals. He failed miserably. Petty went just 2 ⅓ innings and allowed nine runs on seven hits. The Reds lost that game by a final of 9-1.

Petty went back to Triple-A Louisville and was dominant in two starts. Then, after Hunter Greene's injury, Petty received another chance to prove himself in the big leagues. Unfortunately, his second bite at the apple didn't go well either. Petty lasted just three innings, walked six batters while striking out four, and was pulled after 90 pitches. The Reds lost that game to the Houston Astros by a final score of 6-0.

Reds manager Terry Francona will send Brent Suter to the mound as the opener for Chase Petty against the Guardians

Quite frankly, helping Petty get out of the first (and possibly second) inning is a brilliant strategy on the part of Francona and the Reds coaching staff. Suter is also a lefty, which should help against two of the top three bats in the Guardians batting order — Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan. Suter is no stranger to this role, having started six games over the past three seasons.

The Reds bullpen has been leaned on heavily over the past few weeks. Even on Friday, Francona needed the quartet of Taylor Rogers, Graham Ashcraft, Tony Santillan, and Emilio Pagán to finish off the Guardians after Brady Singer exited following five innings of work. Rogers, Ashcraft, and Santillan threw fewer than 15 pitches during the game, so all three should be available if needed on Saturday.

The hope, of course, is that Petty will finally have the performance Reds fans have been waiting for. After struggling out of the gate, the Cincinnati faithful are eager to see the version of Petty they've heard so much about.

His brash attitude and confidence are apparent, but Petty's yet to really showcase that tantalizing talent that has allowed him to vault into the top-100 of most prospect evaluators' rankings. Perhaps having Suter set the table on Saturday will help.

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