Gordon Graceffo's 2026 success can be a launching pad for new role in 2027

The fact-finding mission that was the 2026 St. Louis Cardinals season has to be seen as an overall success given the year's goals. Chaim Bloom and his staff are now able to pinpoint specific spots on the roster that are in need of an overhaul, while looking to see what is next for the more concrete options on the 40-man roster.

During the offseason, Bloom will have to make a handful of 40-man decisions, but also weigh the pros and cons of shelling out resources (be it money or player capital) to fill other areas of need. A likely option for the front office is to pick from their current crop of talent and attempt to use those players to answer what questions remain for the organization. One of the largest questions looms in the rotation, especially after a couple key injuries and Matthew Liberatore's seasons-long struggles made it clear he is not a long-term rotation fit.

Gordon Graceffo looks to be a Cardinals rotation option to follow in Kyle Leahy's footsteps

With plenty of innings needing to be covered coming into the 2026 season and little money spent into making sure those were taken care of, the Cardinals went internal for their solution. After moving Liberatore into the rotation full-time last season, the St. Louis coaching staff used that blueprint to carve out a path for effective 2025 reliever Kyle Leahy. Unlike with Libby, this transition has been a success for Leahy as he put the finishing touches on his first season as a starter with a handful of shortened starts.

Since the 2027 Cardinals might still be a few pieces away from true postseason contention, Chaim Bloom might use this questionable offseason as an opportunity to keep money saved up and fill holes with cheap talent from within the organization. Like the team did with Leahy this year, I could see Oliver Marmol and Dusty Blake tasking reliever Gordon Graceffo with a starter's offseason plan and give him the first shot at a backend rotation role for next year.

For his career, Graceffo has been a tough arm to figure out. At times, he looked like a solid starting option or a go-to bullpen arm, while also looking like someone the team needed to separate from all together. Since the second half of the season, though, Graceffo is becoming an arm that the Cardinals cannot do without. While he has become a firefighter in the bullpen this year, his workload and pitch mix point to him being next year's Leahy in the rotation.

While the Liberatore transition may ultimately end in failure, the Cardinals have a two year sample for how to keep relievers healthy when moving them to a role where they throw every fifth day. Both Liberatore and Leahy have made all of their starts since moving to the rotation and the organization will hope their overall pitching health will remain next season. For Graceffo, he has started in the past like the two before him, so he could have the inside track when compared to other arms looking to join the competition.

It has been a few seasons since Graceffo has started consistently as his last year as a full-time starter was in 2024. During that season, however, Graceffo saw his role change multiple times as he rode the Memphis shuttle up and down from the minors to the majors. In each of the past two years, Graceffo has settled into a bullpen role but the Cardinals may ask him to make a change again this winter.

With only Leahy, Michael McGrevvy, and Andre Pallante written into the rotation next season, Graceffo will have plenty of work in front of him to hang onto a role. A positive for him, though, is that he has plenty of resources available for him to figure out how to become a successful starter.

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