Gordon Graceffo #44

Graduated from Cranford High (N.J.) School. High honor academically all four years...Three varsity letters in baseball. Combined for a career ERA of 2.25 with 128 strikeouts...Played college baseball at Villanova University where he was a First Team All-Big East and ABCA/Rawlings Division I East Region selection in 2021...Ranked fifth 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.

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.