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Slider Change Altered Trajectory of Season, Career for Cardinals' Reliever
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- Slider Change Altered Trajectory of Season, Career for Cardinals' Reliever
Roundtable Sports' John Denton discusses the impact that Gordon Graceffo's grip change on his slider had on his season and potentially his career.
Growth, as St. Louis Cardinals' manager Oliver Marmol pointed out repeatedly over the final month of the 2026 season, can be measured in a variety of ways.
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One way, of course, is the standings – an area where the Cardinals fell back a win from 2025 (78-84) to 2026 (77-85), one that was somewhat expected with the widespread youth on the roster and the club selling off veteran pitchers JoJo Romero and Dustin May for prospects at the MLB Trade Deadline.
Instead, the Cardinals tried to evaluate areas of growth in non-traditional ways in a non-traditional season in St. Louis.
Growth was having a defined core group of players – Alec Burleson, Jordan Walker, JJ Wetherholt, Ivan Herrera, Masyn Winn, Michael McGreevy, Kyle Leahy and Riley O'Brien – take major steps in their games and evolve into building blocks.
Growth was seeing Leo Bernal, Joshua Baez, Quinn Mathews, Cooper Hjerpe and Nathan Church live up to the hype that followed them from the Minor Leagues and show signs they can be depended on going forward.
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Growth was Andre Pallante and Gordon Graceffo shaking off the struggles of 2025 and showing the fortitude to change the trajectory of their careers.
Gordon Graceffo had a breakout season in 2026, going 8-2 with a 2.67 ERA. -- Jeff Le-Imagn Images
Growth was even journeymen relievers Justin Bruihl and George Soriano pitching better than they ever have in their careers.
"This is a really young group, but there's been a lot of progress with so many of these guys," Marmol said. "You can go up and down the lineup and you see growth from so many of our guys. Then, go to the rotation and what McGreevy, Pallante and Leahy did this season, and the bullpen as well. Our staff has really enjoyed pouring into that group. They are hungry for information and they want to be coaches, so that's made it a lot of fun."
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However, as president of baseball operation Chaim Bloom reminds, the Cardinals still have major gulfs between them and MLB's top teams. The National League champion Brewers, after all, finished 26 games ahead of St. Louis and battered the Cards in 11 of 13 head-to-head meetings. Much more growth is needed for the Cards to better navigate the difference the rebuilding and contending.
With growth being the focus, let's look back at the performances by individual players in the 2026 season and how they will figure into the Cards' plans going forward in 2027 and beyond:
Player name:Gordon Graceffo
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Age:26
How acquired:Selected by the Cardinals in the fifth round of the 2021 MLB Draft
2026 statistics:62 games, 8-2, 2.67 ERA, 81 IP, seven holds, 1 for 3 in save opportunities, 53 hits, 24 earned runs, five homers allowed, 63 strikeouts, 36 walks, .190 batting average allowed
Key numbers:Graceffo was one of the surprise stars of 2026 for the Cardinals – especially after changing the grip on his slider in July and seeing tremendous results. After striking out just 17 batters in March, April, May and June combined, Graceffo punched out 46 over July, August and September with his new-and-improved slider.
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Looking back to 2026:Graceffo's season – and quite possibly his career – changed in early July when he changed the grip on his slider during a three-day stint with Triple-A Memphis. He came back to the Cardinals as a different pitch with a sharp breaking slider that finally gave him a swing-and-miss weapon. The slider helped him post the best season of his career with him going 8-2 with a 2.67 ERA in 62 games. Not only that, his Fastball Run Value (92nd percentile) and his overall Pitching Run Value (89th percentile) allowed him to rank near the top of baseball among all pitchers. Also, he tended to keep the opposition on the ground by inducing a 47.5 percent ground ball rate – good for MLB's 77th percentile. In 2026, he threw his slider 18.3 percent of the time after almost abandoning the pitch all together in 2025 (4 percent usage), per Baseball Savant. Almost instantly, the pitcher who struck out just three hitters in June, had games with four, four, four, six, three and three strikeouts. A six-strikeout performance came at Dodgers Stadium on Sept. 2.
Looking forward to 2027:While some have wondered if the Cardinals might shift Graceffo back to the starting rotation following his discovery of his slider, a more likely progression would be to move into more of a high leverage role late in games. Following a second half where closer Riley O'Brien struggled badly, could Graceffo get some closing opportunities going forward? He finished 17 games in 2026, posting seven holds and one save in three opportunities. Something Graceffo must clean up before he can be counted on late in games: He had an 11 percent walk rate (17th percentile) and often had to pitch around traffic.
Denton's analysis:Graceffo was a breakout star in 2026, and he likely changed the trajectory of his career by finding a new grip on his slider. That pitch often fooled hitters sitting on his fastball and would result in them glaring back out to the mound after swinging and missing. As it turns out, the slider made his 95.3 mph fastball – one he threw 38 percent of the time last season – even more effective. Foes hit just .196 and slugged just .330 against his fastball last season, while hitting only .232 and slugging .375 against his slider. One area of concern: Based on the quality of contact allowed, computer models showed the expected numbers to be much higher than Graceffo actually allowed. For example, while his actual ERA sat at 2.67, his expected ERA was 4.60. Whether Graceffo was lucky or not in 2026, he'll need to carry that with him in 2027 as he gets more high-leverage looks.
