Video Scouting Report on St. Louis Cardinals Pitcher Gordon Graceffo
Video Scouting Report on St. Louis Cardinals Pitcher Gordon Graceffo
The St. Louis Cardinals have found value outside the early rounds of the draft from both hitters and pitchers. Early results indicate they may have found similar value in Gordon Graceffo.
Background
Gordon Joseph Graceffo was drafted by the Cardinals in the fifth round last summer out of Villanova University. After some struggles his freshman year at ‘Nova, Graceffo posted a 1.51 ERA over 107 1/3 innings with a 20/98 BB/K ratio over 2020-2021. He then dominated the Cape Cod League in 2021 over three starts, posting a 2/13 BB/K ratio over 13 innings while allowing just one run before the Cardinals selected him.
The Cardinals started him out in Single-A with Palm Beach, spending most of his time in the bullpen, throwing 26 innings, posting a 1.73 ERA with a 9/37 BB/K.
He opened the 2022 season in High-A with Peoria, where he posted a 0.99 ERA and 0.68 WHIP over 45 2/3 innings with a 4/56 BB/K ratio over eight starts.
Graceffo was promoted to Double-A, where he has now made nine starts, throwing 53 1/3 innings with a 3.21 ERA and 0.98 WHIP, posting a 9/41 BB/K ratio.
Scouting Report
Each video report that I do consists of a minimum of six games for the player. With Graceffo, I watched a pair of available games from 2021 and five games from 2022 (one with Peoria and four since his promotion to Double-A).
Size/Build
Graceffo is listed at 6’4″ and 210 pounds. That build looks spot on, and while he’s not going to win any Mr. Olympia competitions, he’s not carrying notable “bad” weight on his frame either. He carries the weight well in his upper legs, where he generates plenty of his torque.
In views, I’d wager that Graceffo could have a bit of a wide torso in his natural build. That allows him to hide the ball for just a second longer in his delivery. Speaking of…
Delivery
Unlike many pitchers who take their first step to turn their hips by stepping back toward first or third, Graceffo steps straight back.
He then follows that with a step toward the plate that aligns his back (right) hip before coming chest high with a leg kick, tucking into his glove slightly at the peak.
He explodes out of that peak position with consistent direction to the plate, coming to the plate at a 3/4 to high-3/4 arm slot that is very consistent pitch-by-pitch.
Control (60)
The delivery is very easy and repeatable, which allows Graceffo to pound the zone with all of his pitches. At this point, he’s certainly control over command, especially with his breaking pitches, but even over the course of starts in season, the progress hitting the catcher’s target with his fastball and change has come a long way, so it’s entirely feasible that he takes a similar jump with the breaking pitches with further time in the upper minors, perhaps even pushing this to a double-plus grade before he eventually graduates.
Fastball (55)
Graceffo did work in the offseason that helped him to add velocity. He now sits consistently mid-90s, and he’s touched upper-90s deep into games. The four-seam has excellent ride up in the zone, but low in the zone, the fastball doesn’t exactly have swing-and-miss action, which has led to some hard-hit fastballs low in the zone.
Changeup (55)
Interestingly, he works up in the zone with a hard fastball and struggles to find movement low in the zone with his heater, but Graceffo’s changeup has no such problem. The change has tremendous late drop, typically straight drop, but also to the arm side.
Curveball (50)
While more of an average pitch as far as effectiveness and his ability to command the pitch, Graceffo’s curve is definitely a pitch he enjoys throwing, typically working the pitch into his repertoire roughly 15-20% of the time. The pitch registered 75-78, according to stadium guns, in my views, with pure 12-6 movement. Graceffo locates the ball well around the plate, but he can miss his spot with the ball, leaving the ball as a hanging curve right in the zone for hitters.
Slider (55)
Preseason, many raved about Graceffo’s slider, and it’s definitely the offspeed pitch that gets the most swing and miss. While some put a pure plus on the pitch, I did note in his Double-A starts that Graceffo could get into a spot of overthrowing the slider, which gave it a “lazy cutter” break, and with his typical control, that left the pitch sitting right in the middle of the zone.
MLB Comp
The size and offerings of Graceffo strike a very easy comparison in the major leagues right now with Cleveland Guardians starter Zach Plesac.
Plesac was originally a 12th round selection in the 2016 draft out of Ball State by Cleveland, working his way quickly to the major leagues, despite his lack of pedigree, similar to Graceffo. He was on the door of the majors after his second full minor league season, so Graceffo is even ahead of Plesac’s pace.
Since he debuted in 2019 with Cleveland, Plesac has posted a 3.95 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and has posted 4.2 fWAR over 71 starts and more than 400 innings.
Future Role
Coming out of the comp, Plesac really fits what I see Graceffo fitting into. His true talent will work as a 3/4 starter that should eat up innings. While his excellent control could allow him to have some elite seasons beyond that role, that will be his best fit in a well-constructed major league rotation.
Benjamin Chase
After 6 years of writing for FanSided on various sites and offering contributions to various other websites, family changes have encouraged me to start this site. I spend a ton of time watching baseball at all levels, but I love watching minor league baseball on milb.tv as I'm hours away from the closest minor league team. This is an effort of all those games I enjoy on a daily basis!
