Minor league report: Cardinals prospect Gordon Graceffo tosses quality start in Class AAA

In today's 10 a.m. "Ten Hochman" video, from the Siteman Cancer Center Studios, Ben Hochman discusses Nolan Gorman of the Cardinals and his massive number of RBIs thus far in 2023. Also, a happy birthday shoutout to Carmen Electra! And as always, Hochman picks a random St. Louis Cards card f…

Coming off his shortest professional regular-season outing since last August while he was in Class AA, Cardinals pitching prospect Gordon Graceffo notched the first quality start of his Class AAA career on Saturday with a six-inning performance.

Graceffo, 23, allowed two runs, walked one, and struck out six as he threw 85 pitches and matched a season-best in strikeouts against Indianapolis, the Pirates’ Class AAA affiliate. The outing was the longest of Graceffo's first four Class AAA starts.

The two runs he gave up both came on a home run allowed in the fourth inning to former big-leaguer Miguel Andujar. Before allowing the homer to Andujar and the single that preceded it, Graceffo had surrendered just a walk and a single in the ballgame.

Along with Graceffo's quality start, these are some of the weekend's notable performances from around the Cardinals’ minor league affiliates:

Right-handed pitcher Gordon Graceffo, Class AAA Memphis: Utilizing a five-pitch mix, Graceffo generated 15 swings-and-misses with six of them coming via his slider, per statcast. The right-hander's fastball reached a maximum velocity of 97.4 and reached as high as 95 mph once he reached the 80-pitch range in his start. Despite giving up just the two runs on five hits, eight of the 17 balls put in play vs. Graceffo registered as hard-hit balls — those being balls with an exit velocity of 95 mph or higher.

The quality start lowered Graceffo's ERA to 3.18 across 17 innings and earned the Cardinals minor leaguer pitcher of the year from a season ago his first win of 2023.

Left-handed pitcher Matthew Liberatore, Class AAA Memphis: Liberatore was on the hook for his first loss on the season on Sunday as he allowed three runs (two earned) in five innings of work. Liberatore (3-1) gave up four hits, walked one, and struck out six in a Memphis loss that snapped the club's 12-game winning streak. One of the hits Liberatore allowed was a solo homer.

After he allowed just two runs in his first 17 innings, Liberatore has allowed seven runs in his last 10 2/3 frames. The lefty's Sunday start raised his ERA to 2.60.

Right-handed pitcher Andre Pallante, Class AAA Memphis: Pallante completed two scoreless innings and didn't allow a hit on Saturday as he made his first minor league appearance since 2021 following his option to Class AAA on April 18. He struck out three batters and did not allow a walk as he induced five swings-and-misses on 21 pitches. Three of the whiffs Pallante got came on his fastball, which touched 98.4 mph in the outing.

Outfielder Juan Yepez, Class AAA Memphis: A three-for-four Sunday for Yepez included a pair of singles, a home run, and two RBIs as Memphis's right fielder. On his three hits, Yepez registered exit velocities of 103.3, 102.4, and 101.7 mph. The 389-foot solo home run Yepez connected on was his first since returning to Class AAA on April 15 while his multi-hit game on Sunday improved him to six-for-16 in his last four games at the minor league level.

Catcher Leonardo Bernal, Class Low-A Palm Beach: As Palm Beach's cleanup hitter on Saturday, Bernal went four-for-four with a home run and two RBIs. All four of the switch-hitting catcher's hits came as a lefty. Bernal's solo homer came off his bat at 105.1 mph and was his second of the season as he improved his average to .361 an OPS to 1.008 over 36 at-bats in his first 10 games to begin the year. He also nabbed his first stolen base of the season, too.

Right-handed pitcher Ian Bedell, Class High-A Peoria: Bedell provided 1 2/3 scoreless inning of relief on Sunday for Peoria, lowering his ERA to 0.93 over 9 2/3 innings in the process. The University of Missouri product and former 2020 draft pick struck out four batters and worked around three walks and a hit in the outing. The four strikeouts raised the right-hander's total on the season to 22 across his five appearances.

Outfielder Victor Scott II, Class High-A Peoria: Scott raised his stolen base total to 16 after he stole two bases on Sunday. Scott, a fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft, is 16-for-17 on stolen base attempts to begin the year. At the plate, Scott went one-for-four with two runs scored and two RBIs. While serving as the regular leadoff hitter for Peoria, the West Virginia University product is batting .296 with a .766 OPS.

A nightly look at the day\'s top sports stories, and a first look at the topics St. Louis fans will be talking about tomorrow.

In today's 10 a.m. "Ten Hochman" video, from the Siteman Cancer Center Studios, Ben Hochman discusses Nolan Gorman of the Cardinals and his ma…