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# Gonzaga Hurler Payton Graham Aims For Big Leagues, Drafted By St. Louis Cardinals
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/gonzaga-bulldogs-payton-graham-aims-big-leagues-drafted-st-louis-cardinals/
- Published: 2025-07-19T13:30:18.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T05:58:58.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: News, Analysis, Gonzaga, Payton Graham, 2025 MLB Draft

For the fifth consecutive year, the Gonzaga Bulldogs have had a player selected in the MLB Draft. Right-handed pitcher Payton Graham was taken by the St. Louis Cardinals in the seventh round Monday afternoon, becoming the 55th player drafted to the big leagues under long-time Zags’ head coach Mark Machtolf.

The 21-year old Graham was picked 210th overall – the earliest a Bulldog has heard their name called since 2022 - when Trystan Vrieling and William Kempner were drafted 100th and 106th overall, respectively. Graham was seemingly on a trajectory to challenge Vrieling and Kempner more fiercely in draft position before suffering an elbow injury after his first start that required Tommy John Surgery.

Graham put together two full seasons of work as a Bulldog, primarily in a bullpen role. The righty was preparing to be a full-time starter in his junior campaign before the season-ending injury. After struggling to find his footing out of the gate for the Zags, Graham consistently developed into a more complete pitcher.

The Kennewick, Washington native struggled immensely during his freshman season, registering a 17 percent walk rate with a 2.55 WHIP, equating to a 12.00 ERA across 27 innings where he allowed eight homers. Graham’s sophomore season saw his walk rate drop to 10 percent, but he still allowed almost a run per inning pitched in 33 1/3 frames of work.

The 6-2, 220-pounder has a long, windy delivery that is in between a three-quarters and over-the-top arm slot. Graham has experienced an incremental uptick in his stuff year-over-year. His fastball sits in the mid-90s, topping out as hard as 98 mph while averaging 18 inches of induced vertical break. A heater of this shape is most effective at the top of the zone, where Graham showed an enhanced ability to execute relative to his earlier years at Gonzaga. 

Graham has several secondary pitches to complement his plus fastball including a sweeper with good, late glove-side movement, a hard cutter that typically rises more than it cuts but has shown flashes of being more traditional, as well as a changeup that has good arm-side fade.

During the summer of 2024, Graham also debuted a curveball that featured tremendous depth and late break in the Northwoods League. The hard-throwing righty had a breakout stretch across four starts in the Northwoods League as his ERA sat at a sparkling 1.99 while striking out nearly 38 percent of hitters and walking just nine percent. Graham posted an impressive .88 WHIP and he didn’t give up a long ball, but could this translate back in the WCC?

With the refinement of his velocity and shapes of his pitches while showing more effectiveness as a starting pitcher, Graham created excitement entering his third year at the collegiate level. He earned the start for the Zags’ season opener and showed out, going five shutout innings with seven strikeouts, while allowing just two hits, two free passes, and hitting a batter.

Unfortunately, it would be Graham’s last start as a Bulldog, but the St. Louis Cardinals obviously believe in the right-hander regardless of the Tommy John roadblock. He was one of 12 pitchers selected by the Cards in the 2025 Draft and has similar traits with his St. Louis draft mates of outlier fastballs and a swing-and-miss repertoire.

His five-pitch arsenal will provide room for the organization to develop Graham as a starter, with the hope that he can build off the progress he most recently showed. He is on track to return sometime in 2026 and similar to the case before his injury, command will be crucial to his success as he aims to make it to the big leagues.