ST. LOUIS – After making the four-hour drive from Memphis to St. Louis on Tuesday morning following his promotion from Triple-A to the big leagues, Cardinals’ reliever Gordon Graceffo noticed one major difference in his mindset upon starting his pregame prep.

“I mean, for one, I could come in and eat today because I wasn’t so nervous that I couldn’t eat like before,” joked the Graceffo, referring to the stomach full of butterflies he had before his two-game cameo in 2024 and when he appeared in 43 games in 2025. “But in general, I’m more used to the bullpen and I feel comfortable there now. And after having a normal spring, mostly, being in the bullpen was great. Coming into something you know is way easier than something you don’t, so I’m using that to my advantage.”

Graceffo, 26, was recalled from Memphis before Tuesday’s game against the Mets. The Cardinals placed rookie right-hander Matt Pushard on the 15-day Injured List, retroactive to March 30, because of patellar tendinitis in his right knee. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said the 28-year-old right-hander started feeling pain in his knee after Sunday’s outing where he surrendered three hits, three runs and a walk in an inning of work against the Rays.

“He was very limited (on Monday) when he came in with his range of motion and it’s something he’s had before, but not to the degree he felt it (on Monday),” Marmol said. “He was unavailable (on Monday) and he wasn’t going to be available for several days to try and let that (pain) calm down, so we made the move. Graceffo can give us multiple (innings) and we know what he’s capable of doing.”

Graceffo showed more of what he’s capable of doing in the World Baseball Classic by pitching in relief in two games for Italy. He allowed a run in two innings, but he also showed off his improved velocity by striking out four batters.

“It was phenomenal and that’s probably one of the best experiences I’ve ever had on the baseball field,” said Graceffo, a fifth-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft out of Villanova. “Being with that team, the guys were amazing and going as far as we did when nobody thought we could do that was phenomenal.”

As the owner of a somewhat unorthodox and herky-jerky motion, Graceffo has worked to clean up his mechanics so that he can find a repeatable motion to the plate. That cleanup also allowed him to add some more horsepower to his fastball – his average four-seam fastball velocity went up to 95.7 mph in 2025 after sitting at 93.6 in 2024. That added steam on his fastball allowed him to improve his whiff rate (25 percent) and strikeout rate (19.4 percent) and he notched 21 of 40 strikeouts with his heater.

“Creating a higher floor has been one of my biggest goals of the offseason and I think I’m doing a pretty good job of that so far,” said Gracefflo, who thinks he can elevate the velocity on his fastball even more with good health in 2026. “I’ve mostly been focusing on my delivery and knowing how I move best and getting into those positions as often as I can.”

One position that Graceffo would like to be in is the role that starter-turned reliever-turned-starter Kyle Leaky filled in 2025. Leahy, who possessed the versatility to pitch multiple innings and also in high-leverage spots, has been moved back into the starting rotation this season, creating a spot for Graceffo to aspire to in the coming weeks.

“Our bullpen was phenomenal last year because Kyle was the bridge between the starter and JoJo (Romero), Riley (O’Brien) and all our late-inning guys,” said Graceffo, who was 3-1 with a save in three opportunities in 2025. “I’ll do whatever role they need me to do, but I feel like that’s role I could succeed in and see myself doing.”    

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