Cardinals’ Gordon Graceffo Shows Livelier Stuff After Offseason Work
The velocity righthander Gordon Graceffo showed in a limited engagement in St. Louis left such a strong impression that the Cardinals had just two questions.
How soon could they get him back in their bullpen?
How fast would he make an impact?
The answer arrived like his fastball: quickly.
Called up for the third time in his career on April 30 as the 27th player for a doubleheader, Graceffo entered the game against the Reds in the fifth inning. What the Cardinals wanted to see all spring torched their iPads.
Graceffo touched 98.9 mph, landed a slider at 93 mph and mixed a hammer curveball in the mid 80s that also had more pep. The Cardinals optioned the 25-year-old to Triple-A Memphis, counted the days until his arm was rested and then brought him back to help bring the bullpen together.
“We knew this would be the quickest way for him to impact the big league club,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “That was kind of what we wanted to see out of him. He has definitely shown flashes of that before.”
It just took a few weeks of the season to put all his moving parts together to reach that power consistently—and command it.
A fifth-round pick in 2021 out of Villanova, Graceffo visited a pitching development facility in Charlotte last winter to unlock additional velocity and shape several pitches. He shifted his grip a bit on his breaking ball, but the bigger adjustment came in his delivery.
He has a signature one. Graceffo takes a big step back from the rubber before coming forward in a delivery that is a mix between Deadball Era, running start and tango. Graceffo sought to generate velocity with more consistent forward movement and extension.
With all the movement in his delivery it took reps to find rhythm—more reps that he could possibly stuff into spring training.
“The goal was just to be in the zone with everything,” Graceffo said. “And if everything is a tick up, so be it.”
That “tick up” is what will keep him up in the majors.
REDBIRD CHIRPS
— Triple-A Memphis righthander Sem Robberse, one of the prospects acquired at the 2023 trade deadline, will miss the entire 2025 season after having Tommy John surgery in mid May. He joins 2022 first-round lefthander Cooper Hjerpe on rehab from reconstructive surgery, leaving the Cardinals’ starting depth at higher levels thinned.
— Rising catcher prospect Rainiel Rodriguez introduced himself to his first domestic level with a .393/.526/.964 line in his first nine games for the Cardinals’ Florida Complex League affiliate. Five of his first 11 hits were homers, and the 18-year-old Dominican homered in three consecutive games in mid May.
