Gordon Graceffo #44

Born in Wayne, N.J., but moved to Cranford, N.J., where he attended Cranford High School and earned three varsity letters in baseball. Was a four-year member of the academic high school honor roll...Played college baseball at Villanova, where he was a First Team All-Big East and ABCA/Rawlings Division I East Region selection in 2021...Ranked 5th in the NCAA Division I with a 1.54 ERA and 25th with an 0.96 WHIP, lowest WHIP in Villanova history...Posted three consecutive double-digit strikeout games (4/30-5/14/21)...Started and was the winning pitcher in a 2-1 win over No. 3 Arizona State (2/15/20), the highest-ranked opponent victory in school history...Pitched for Bourne in the 2021 Cape Cod League posting a 1-0 mark with an 0.69 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 13 innings...Resides in Cranford, N.J.

2024

Primarily pitched at Memphis (AAA) while making two appearances (one start) for St. Louis during his Major League debut season...Was one of nine Cardinals to make his MLB debut during the season...Finished among International League leaders in wins (10, T-5th), win percentage (.556, 4th), ERA (4.85, 8th), innings pitched (130.0, 10th) and starts (26, T-10th)...Ranked among Cardinals organizational leaders in wins (T-1st), innings pitched (5th) and starts (T-2nd)...Made his Major League debut vs. Cincinnati on June 29 in which he pitched 4.1 innings, a Cardinals season-high for innings in relief to save the bullpen in a 9-4 loss...His 4.1 innings was the longest relief outing by a Cardinals rookie since Angel Rondon (5.0 IP on May 22, 2022 at Pittsburgh) the longest relief outing by a Cardinal in his MLB debut since John Martin in 1980, who threw 7.0 innings vs. Philadelphia on Aug. 27, 1980...Started and lost Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Royals on July 10 at Busch Stadium, yielding three runs over 3.1 innings...At the time of having contract selected on June 28, was 8-5 with a 3.84 ERA (75.0 IP) and 70 strikeouts in 14 starts with Memphis (AAA), ranking among Triple-A leaders in wins (8, T-1st), opponent OPS (.686, 4th) and ERA (3.84, 10th)...Became the sixth Villanova alum to appear for the Cardinals, joining LHP/OF Mike O’Neill (1901-04), OF Ernie Lush (1910), C Mike Murphy (1912), 1B/PH Mike Pasquella (1919) and INF Steve Huntz (1967, '69)...Struck out a season-high eight batters twice: April 18 at Gwinnett and May 21 at Durham...Threw back-to-back starts of 7.0 innings on May 14 and May 21, matching his Minor League single-game career high...Threw his second career complete game, coming in a 7.0-inning effort vs. Gwinnett in Game 1 of a doubleheader, tossing a career-high 115 pitches at AutoZone Park on May 14...Went 4-0 with a 2.05 ERA (22.0 IP) and 21 strikeouts in four June starts. Tied his career-high with a four-game winning streak...After being optioned to Memphis on July 11, finished the season with a 6.28 ERA (53.0 IP) in his final 12 starts.

2023

Began the season on the Memphis (AAA) roster and pitched there all season...Appeared in 21 games, starting 18...Pitched in relief in his final two appearances of the season, recoding five outs or more in each but was scored on in both outings...On the seven-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation (5/2-6/16) missing 38 games...Was 1-2 with a 4.91 ERA in five starts prior to the injury (22.0 IP/20 K) and 3-1 with a 4.92 ERA over 13 starts and 16 appearances (64 IP/61 K) after returning from the injured list...Posted a higher strikeout/9 IP with human umpires behind the plate (10.1 K/9 IP) as opposed to the ABS system (7.89 K/9 IP)...Pitched a season-high 6.0 innings on three occasions and topped out at 97 pitches at Charlotte (7/21) over 4.2 innings.

2022

Split the season with two months in Peoria (A) before finishing the season at Springfield (AA). Named Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Year. ...Ranked in the Top 10 among Cardinals Minor League pitchers in strikeouts (139, fourth), wins (10, T-2nd), ERA (2.97, eighth), WHIP (0.94, second), opponent BA (.202, eighth), starts (26, second), innings pitched (139.1, fourth) walks/9 IP (1.8, first), and strikeout/walk ratio (4.96, third)....Completed 13 quality starts, while holding his opposition to three hits or less in 11-of-26 starts and posted eight scoreless starts with one run or less in half his starts ...Finished season with 16.2 consecutive scoreless innings....Threw a season-high 7.0 innings five times and struck out a career-high nine batters three times.