Jonathan Pettibone, a former 3rd round pick out of Esperanza HS in Anaheim, CA, will reportedly join the IronPigs after a 7 IP, 3 hit, 6 K performance. The news was first reported by Reading Phillies beat writer Anthony Burkhart who covers the team for the Republican-Herald. Pettibone has been fantastic for Reading, entering the night with a 3.43 ERA and 1.260 WHIP after just turning 22 on July 19. Pettibone is part of the faction of young arms known collectively to Phillies fans as the “Baby Aces” and is the first of the group to reach Triple-A. He was ranked 9th by our Jay Floyd in the 2012 Prospect Nation and as the 5th best Phils prospect by FanGraphs.

With Pettibone’s promotion, it is assumed that a corresponding roster move will be made to accommodate him in the starting rotation at Lehigh Valley. While I don’t want to speculate, this may be a sign of a move with the Big Club to make room for Tyler Cloyd, who is 9-1 at Triple-A Lehigh Valley with a 2.11 ERA and a 1.007 WHIP. Calling up Pettibone, combined with re-signing Hamels, may be the initial move in a series of moves that leads Cloyd to the ‘Bigs and possibly Joe Blanton or Cliff Lee to a new team to free up newly needed cash for the Phils. Of course, it may just be a case of Pettibone having an outstanding year and simply being ready for the next level.

Our minor-league expert Jay Floyd has covered Pettibone extensively throughout his time in the Phillies organization. To read more about Pettibone check out Jay’s ProspectNation piece on Pettibone here and his interview he did with the righty here.