One of the immediate differences for prospect Gordon Graceffo in his return to the Cardinals for a limited engagement Wednesday and his first major-league start was the word games.
When he made his big-league debut earlier this season, Graceffo did so as a reliever — ever-ready to go and thrust into the ballgame with a few minutes to warm up, not hours to ruminate. Promoted as the Cardinals’ 27th man to start Wednesday night’s half of a doubleheader against Kansas City, Graceffo arrived during the afternoon game and had plenty of time to stew over his upcoming start, his first start at Busch Stadium. He needed a distraction.
So he dove into a few New York Times word games.
He played a few hands of solitaire.
“I think the toughest part of pitching here is just getting over the fact that you’re pitching here in the big leagues,†Graceffo said. “I think that comes as time comes. You can’t experience anything without experience, you know? But I think just with that constant experience I’m going to get as time goes on everything will get better, and I feel more like myself and keep it rolling.â€
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Laced throughout the Cardinals’ doubleheader dud against the Royals was that accumulation of experience for three young pitchers who are likely to play a part in the team’s second half.
Size to be determined.
Andre Pallante pitched into the seventh inning of the Cardinals’ 6-4 loss in the first game of the doubleheader. Graceffo started the second game, allowed a sacrifice fly on his 38th pitch that broke a tie game, and then gave way to the Cardinals’ strategic choice to counter the Royals’ left-leaning lineup with reliever Matthew Liberatore. The lefty, whose role within the bullpen continues to evolve, allowed three runs on five hits as KC pulled away for an 8-5 victory.
“We just didn’t play very good baseball,†said Nolan Arenado, who homered in the first game and, for the first time this season, homered in the same game as Paul Goldschmidt. “They played well. They had good at-bats. They pitched well. … When you play a doubleheader, the worst-case scenario you’ve got to split. And we didn’t do that.â€
Three home runs in the night game, including Salvador Perez’s second of the day, helped make a winner of Michael Wacha in his first start as a visitor at Busch Stadium.
Eleven years ago, a young right-hander got the call to the majors less than 12 months after the Cardinals drafted him out of Texas A&M. The Cardinals had the best record in the majors at the time and relied on seven rookie pitchers to get there. Wacha would be the eighth — and the one who catapulted them toward the National League pennant and their most recent World Series appearance. Wacha pitched seven strong innings in his debut, returned to the minors, had spin as a reliever, and in September joined the rotation. History shifted beneath his cleats. He had a 1.72 ERA in five September starts for the Cardinals, got within an out of a no-hitter in his final regular-season start, and then blitzed October to become the NLCS MVP and inspire the name of Andy Cohen’s puppy.
“There’s definitely some emotions still there, for sure,†Wacha said late Wednesday night after his five innings and KC’s 51st win. “It was hard to just treat it like any start, but yeah, (there) were definitely some emotions going through where you want to go out there and perform at the highest level and put up a good start.â€
It's impossible to know how, when, or how much the young pitchers of 2024 will be asked to steady or elevate the Cardinals and their aspirations, only that they will be asked to do so.
Within a midseason, midweek doubleheader there were glimpses.
THE STARTER
Andre Pallante, RHP
Before Pallante moved back to Class AAA Memphis earlier this season to reinvent himself as a starting pitcher, he spent years in the bullpen as a counterintuitive right-hander.
He joked this past spring that he is “pretty much a lefty†because of the movement on his pitches and the struggles left-handed batters have against him. A few teams would fall into the Cardinals’ trap by putting a left-handed pinch-hitter up against the right-handed Pallante only to see an inevitable groundball find a glove. So, predictably, Kansas City loaded its lineup with seven right-handed bats to greet Pallante on Wednesday.
In those right-handed hitters’ first 10 at-bats, Pallante got nine outs.
“I have to make pitches to righties,†Pallante said. “I have to be better against them. When you’re coming in and you face maybe one righty a day and you’re throwing your fourth pitch and you’re throwing in the bullpen role — kind of expected to do that every single day — you’re going to make more mistakes. For me, being able to throw a bullpen and kind of get that stuff fine-tuned — and throw more pitches. My command gets better the more pitches I throw. I think that’s something that has been a big step for me in the right direction is being able to command my fourth pitch and my third pitch a lot better than being a cutter-fastball guy.â€
Pallante has repeatedly pointed to a starter’s schedule as a reason for his improvement. Between starts, he’s used bullpen sessions to sharpen pitches he had to mothball as a reliever.
As a starter, he’s also been able to just get more facetime with right-handed batters. Instead of one-inning bursts with targeted usage as a reliever, he’s seeing the same right-handed batters two, three times a game. On Wednesday, he faced All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. three times. He got a groundout and a popup and, in the fifth inning, struck out Witt on a slider. He dotted a 97-mph fastball on the outer edge to strike out a left-handed batter and followed with an 89-mph slider to strike out Perez.
“Being able to read the at-bat and if a guy is trying to shoot me the other way or trying to pull a ball off of me, then I know I have got a solution for both of those guys,†Pallante said. “So being able to face them (more than) one time — maybe they get a hit the first time and I’m reading they’re trying to hit me the other way. Then I can go inside and I know I can beat them in there. Having those opportunities helps me just be better.â€
The Cardinals took a 3-0 lead for Pallante that in the series of five batters in the fifth inning. Two right-handed batters put the inning in motion and left handed-hitting MJ Melendez tagged a misplaced pitch for a double. The Royals’ No. 9 hitter, right handed-hitting Garrett Hampson tied the game with a two-run double into the left-center gap. Perez put the Royals ahead with his solo homer off Pallante.
And he pitched on — into the seventh without allowing a walk.
A few weeks after his starts were abbreviated by decisions, the Cardinals called on him to pitch deeper into a close game and it was within reach when he left. Why the Cardinals wanted a longer start from Pallante became apparent in the second game as Liberatore took over.
THE RELIEVER
Matthew Liberatore, LHP
In his first 25 relief appearances this season, Liberatore had a 3.07 ERA and opponents, left- or right-handed, batted .216 against him. He’s sprinkled in five starts with less success. Though his day-to-day durability and that starter-reliever versatility played into the Cardinals’ plan Wednesday.
Just as the Royals stockpiled right-handed batters against Pallante, they stacked left-handed batters to face Graceffo.
With an off day Thursday and 6 1/3 innings from Pallante earlier in the day, the Cardinals had options galore out of the bullpen. The idea before the game was to have Liberatore ready for multiple innings when the matchup favored a lefty. Three batters into the fourth inning, the Cardinals’ 1-0 lead on Lars Nootbaar’s homer had vanished. When the runner Liberatore inherited scored, KC led 3-1.
Perez’s solo homer to lead off the sixth punctuated three runs off Liberatore.
“We went to Libby and he just hit a wall,†manager Oliver Marmol said. “His velo just dropped. It wasn’t the same. We had to go to the ‘pen (again) a little earlier than expected. He’s been really good.â€
Liberatore is four relief appearances removed from being pressed into a start and responding with six scoreless innings and eight strikeouts. He’s had relief appearances as short as one out and as long as nine outs. He’s struck out three of the four batters he’s faced in a relief appearance, and he’s won game with a lockdown eighth inning in Detroit. The Cardinals see a vital role for Liberatore in the bullpen. They are determining what it is.
THE X-FACTOR
Gordon Graceffo, RHP
In addition to the word games and solitaire before the game, Graceffo huddled with catcher Willson Contreras to go through the scouting reports and plot an approach vs. the Royals and those left-handed hitters. Graceffo also watched the afternoon game to see the swings of some Royals against Pallante and others — a real-time peek at what he was about to face.
“Anything like that helps,†he said.
Graceffo faced the minimum through two with help from a double play, and by the end of the third he’d retired nine of 10 batters. The one he did not hit a game-tying home run.
Melendez pounced on the first pitch of the third inning for his solo homer. He hit a 91.8-mph fastball that Graceffo misplaced. He wanted to go up and away with the pitch, but when it veered inside Melendez did the up and away part. The plan was to take Graceffo through the Royals’ lineup once, gauge how he was doing, and go from there. The target was to at least get Graceffo through the right-handed bats in the middle of the order, like Perez. When he did that for a second time – and Perez lifted a sacrifice fly against him — the Cardinals went quickly toe the bullpen for Liberatore to face some left-handed batters.
“Gave us what we needed,†Marmol said of Graceffo.
The right-hander struck out two and allowed three runs on four hits. All three of the swings and misses he got came on his slider. After the game, as the 27th man, Graceffo returned to the Class AAA Memphis rotation, where he’ll be until a need arises next.
As in any word game, the Cardinals just have to see where the pieces fit.
“I showed them that this could be a role that could be a future for me – whether I’m a starter or in the ‘pen,†Graceffo said. “It doesn’t matter. I’m going to do whatever they need me to (do). I think I made some good pitches. I think I got some good results.â€