The St. Louis Cardinals made a pair of roster moves Friday before their game against the Chicago Cubs, and one of them sends a promising right-hander back to Triple-A.
Gordon Graceffo got optioned to Memphis after a brief big-league stint. The Cardinals also activated reliever Ryne Stanek from the paternity list, giving the bullpen a fresh arm for the series opener at Busch Stadium.
Graceffo, 25, posted a 3.35 ERA over 40.1 innings this season with 18 strikeouts and one save. Not bad numbers on paper. But the Cardinals clearly want to keep him stretched out as a starter in the minors rather than let him sit in the bullpen at the major league level.
The timing of these moves is interesting because it comes less than 24 hours after Dustin May took a line drive off his right ankle in Thursday’s win over Atlanta. The comeback shot by Dominic Smith in the first inning left May crumpled on the mound. X-rays came back negative, which is the good news. But manager Oliver Marmol admitted after the game that May couldn’t have come back out even if he wanted to.
“He wanted to keep going, but it was more of a matter of is he going to be able to go back out,” Marmol told reporters. “Once you sit, that thing’s going to tighten up, and there’s no chance he was going back there, so might as well get the left-on-left matchups for that part of the lineup if that’s going to be the case, so we decided to do it. Thankfully, Bruihl gets the ground ball, and then we’re able to set it up the rest of the game.”
May’s status going forward is unclear. The Cardinals haven’t said whether he’ll miss any starts or if this move creates an opening for someone like Graceffo to return. Right now the rotation is already dealing with enough uncertainty. Having May banged up doesn’t help with the trade deadline approaching and the front office trying to decide if this team is a buyer or a seller.
Stanek returning gives Marmol a high-leverage option back in the pen. The veteran righty hasn’t been dominant this year — his ERA sits just under 4.00 — but he’s been reliable in tight spots and the Cardinals need all the help they can get in the late innings.
As for Graceffo, he’ll go back to Memphis and keep pitching. The Cardinals like his stuff. The question is whether they see him as a long-term starter or a bullpen piece down the stretch. For now, he’s just waiting for the next call.
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