Gordon

Graceffo

Graceffo earns a ticket back to the minors after allowing four runs over an inning of work on Friday against the Rangers. The 25-year-old former prospect has pitched mostly in middle relief this season and holds a 7.47 ERA across 15 2/3 innings (nine appearances).

Cardinals’ closer Ryan Helsley was unavailable on Tuesday after picking up saves in each of the previous two days, so manager Oli Marmol turned to Graceffo to preserve a one-run advantage in the ninth inning. The 25-year-old right-hander made it look easy, needing just six pitches to dispatch of Adam Frazier, Enmanuel Valdez and Joey Bart in succession. While his 6.30 ERA looks bad at a glance, Graceffo has posted a 1.10 WHIP and a 7/1 K/BB ratio over his first 10 innings with the Cardinals while snagging a pair of victories and a save. He’s not going to suddenly displace Helsley in the ninth inning, so don’t rush to the waiver wire to grab him after Tuesday’s performance.

It’s the first official recall for Graceffo this year, though he has twice been on the Cardinals roster as the 27th man in doubleheaders. He’ll likely get starts at some point this season, but he’ll serve as a long reliever for now.

Graceffo provides the Cardinals with some extra depth behind lefty Steven Matz for the second game of Wednesday’s twin bill at Great American Ball Park. The 25-year-old righty will head back to Triple-A Memphis at the conclusion of the nightcap affair.

Graceffo was a candidate for the Cardinals bullpen this spring, but he’s back stating in Memphis after failing to make the team. He’ll provide length if either Cardinals starter gets knocked out early today.

It had been thought that Graceffo would be in the battle with Andre Pallante and Michael McGreevy for the fifth spot in the rotation, but that does not appear to be the case. It remains to be seen if Graceffo will be stretched out to stay in the Triple-A rotation or remain as a reliever. The final spot in the Cardinals rotation will now be between Pallante, McGreevy, and Matthew Liberatore.

Pallante’s velocity remains down 1-2 mph from last year, and he’s just not fooling anyone right now. He had as many homers allowed (two) as swings and misses in his 69-pitch outing today. Pallante is supposed to be a part of the Cardinals rotation, but he does have an option year left if his struggles continue. Michael McGreevy and Gordon Graceffo would likely be the top candidates to step in.

Graceffo averaged 96.2 mph with his fastball today, which is really encouraging. He came in at just 92.5 mph in Triple-A last year, down from 94.1 mph in 2023. He actually topped out at 92.1 mph with his slider today. If Graceffo can maintain this velocity, the Cardinals will have some extra incentive to trade Erick Fedde or another SP.

In his second career big-league game and first career big-league start, Graceffo allowed two runs, with the first coming on a solo homer to MJ Melendez. Graceffo kept the ball in the zone, with all four of his baserunners allowed coming on hits, but allowed runners to score in each of his last two frames. Since his start came in the second game of a doubleheader, there’s no guarantee Graceffo, whose first appearance came out of the bullpen, will draw another start in the coming days.

It’ll be Graceffo’s first big-league start. He made his major league debut two weeks ago, allowing one run over 4 1/3 innings in a game against the Reds. This will just be a spot start, but he’s definitely a candidate to spend more time in the Cardinals rotation in the second half.