'He's a monster': Ethan Petry already making his presence felt in Cape Cod League

As Peter Flaherty arrived to watch batting practice at the Cape Cod League on Wednesday, he noticed a player that looked significantly bigger than everyone else on the field.

The player? South Carolina slugger Ethan Petry. Flaherty hadn’t seen Petry play in person before, so he was taken by surprise at just how staggering he was.

“He’s a monster, like he looks like, and I mean this complementary, he looks bigger than everyone else in little league but it’s the Cape League,” said Flaherty, a national writer/analyst for Baseball America. “It’s really, really impressive.”

After playing in 61 games for the Gamecocks, Petry has stayed busy and joined the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox for the summer. And almost right away, he was able to make an immediate impact.

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In his first game, Petry saw a changeup left up in the zone and crushed a long home run.

“He punished it. Wind was blowing out that day a little bit, but it was not a wind-aided home run,” Flaherty said. “Cut out in front, got his barrel on it. Circling back to the impact he’s able to generate, when a kid like that catches it on the sweet spot, it’s going to get up in the air and send it into the trees in right center, dead center field.”

Caught 1B/OF Ethan Petry’s (@GamecockBasebll) Cape League debut tonight. The rising Junior announced his presence with authority, going 3-4 with a HR and 4 barrels.

Physical monster. Every bit of his 6-foot-4, 230-pound listing. Some moving parts in his swing – toe tap and hands… pic.twitter.com/8i0BrJE31X

— Peter Flaherty III (@PeterGFlaherty) June 27, 2024

Petry finished an outstanding 3-for-4 in his Cape debut. And so far through two games, he’s hitting .667/.625/1.187 with four hits in six at-bats. There were some wondering about Petry’s hand after being hit by a pitch in the NCAA Tournament earlier this month. Flaherty, who didn’t know about the hand, said he looked “100 percent” while playing.

“I was kind of curious to see how he would handle himself cause Cape League pitching is a huge test for anyone, whether you’re Ethan Petry or someone kind of fighting hard this summer. And he handled himself really well,” he said. “There’s some moving parts in his swing, some length to it with a toe tap, the hands drop and drift a little bit. When he catches it on the sweet spot it flies. The impact to be able to generate is next level. And it’s plus power that he’s able to get to in game to all fields.”

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Flaherty said Petry has been playing first base in the Cape, which makes sense after he played there in 21 games for the Gamecocks this season. Long term speaking, that’s where he envisions him playing in the future.

“He looked good. He handled himself well, I thought,” Flaherty said. “I know he played some outfield at South Carolina, as well. But I think professionally, he’s a first baseman for me. I think that’s kind of where his body and actions translate best.”

For now, Petry will continue to play summer ball as the Red Sox don’t wrap up until Aug. 4. After that, he’ll return to South Carolina as the new school year and fall practice get going. But to play in the Cape is a big opportunity to make a name for himself, Flaherty said.

“I think coming out here, and one, doing it against the best level of talent you can find this time of year, and also doing it with wood, that’s going to serve as a really good anchor and booster to his draft stock if he’s able to put to a really good summer,” he said. “People are going to remember that as we head into next spring and also as we start talking about next year’s draft. So I think that it’ll go a long way and potentially solidifying himself as a first rounder.”

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