Gordon Graceffo

September 5, 2026

Could get spot start next week

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol indicated Friday that Graceffo is under consideration to make a start during next week's series in San Francisco, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Analysis

The qualifier is that the Cardinals will have to first get through a weekend series at Coors Field without needing to use Graceffo out of the bullpen, which is easier said than done. A midseason pitch mix change has unlocked Graceffo, who has logged a 2.22 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 31:11 K:BB over 28.1 innings since ditching his curveball for a new slider. He threw three perfect innings with four strikeouts while starting a bullpen game last week versus the Orioles, and the righty has since added an additional five scoreless frames with a 9:1 K:BB over two subsequent outings. Graceffo threw a season-high 48 pitches his last time out, so he should be capable of around 50-to-60 pitches next week if he does wind up making a spot start.