The St. Louis Cardinals have found their next closer

Are the St. Louis Cardinals contenders or sellers for the 2025 season? This seems to be the mystery that has not been quite answered since the offseason. The front office claims the organization is going through a reset, while at the same time stating they plan to compete. It does not make it any easier that the team has a .500 winning percentage so far into the month of May. The team shows promise for a potential playoff push while also showing their weaknesses that will lead to the impending trade deadline sell-off. Either direction will dictate the future of Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley in St. Louis.

Helsley, who is a free agent after the 2025 season, is one of the best closers in all of MLB. His expiring contract and elite production make for the perfect recipe to sell at the deadline to a serious World Series-contending team. If the Cardinals capitalize on this move, the question becomes who will take over as closer going forward. The current bullpen only offers veteran Phil Maton, who would be a temporary move, or a struggling JoJo Romero. The depth pieces are all unproven in a high-leverage role, and the minor league system has more future starting pitchers than relievers. While this can become a tough decision, it doesn't have to be. The future closer has already recorded his first career save in 2025, and many more should be in store.

Gordon Graceffo has the tools to become the Cardinals next closer

Gordon Graceffo is the obvious choice to become the next Cardinals closer. The once-promising starting pitching prospect has not delivered on his potential. He has been up and down over the last several seasons, has appeared in a starting role and reliever role, and looks to pitch in any opportunity given to him at this point. But with his pitch repertoire and metrics, he looks to have the makeup of a promising closer. The Cardinals have recognized this and already used him in a save opportunity versus the Pittsburgh Pirates, and he successfully closed the game out.

With the team struggling to find insurance for Maton and Helsley in the back end of the bullpen, could Graceffo be the next guy to challenge for this role? His overall career stats do not back up this opportunity. For the 2025 MiLB season, Graceffo has a 5.71 ERA in over 17 IP. His MLB stat line is almost parallel with a 6.30 ERA in 10 IP. At face value, this shows he is a fringe player who is just another panic move to cover innings at the big league level. But under the hood, Graceffo shows very promising numbers. His Baseball Savant page shows strong red results for fastball velocity, chase%, and BB%. If Graceffo continues to develop with this as his strong suit, he will be able to generate deceiving pitches at high velocity and control his walks at an elite level. All make for the desired closer to record the final three outs.