Ryan Helsley Figuring It Out

Ryan Helsley probably wasn’t going to be this bad forever.

In the weeks following the trade deadline, what seemed like a boost to the bullpen turned into a disastrous acquisition in a hurry. But Helsley turned in his third straight solid outing in Friday’s 12-6 win over the Nationals. Given Helsley’s ceiling, and how he’s been trending lately, he’s making an intriguing bid to crack the Mets’ postseason roster.

The Mets had an 8-6 lead in the seventh when they used Helsley on Friday. That’s the type of spot he was brought here to pitch in. He pitched a stress-free 1-2-3 inning on 15 pitches to hold the lead. He now has three consecutive scoreless outings, and four in his last five.

In that small handful of appearances, Helsley’s ERA as a Met has lowered from a ghastly 11.45 to a still-ugly 9.00. It hasn’t been the season he’s wanted, with a 4.85 ERA overall. But he was good for most of this season with the Cardinals, and he was one of the best relievers in baseball over the prior three seasons.

Helsley avoided drama on Friday, largely by getting ahead of each of the first two hitters 0-2. He retired Jorge Alfaro on three straight sliders, inducing a groundout to short. He then attacked Jacob Young with both of his primary pitches, eventually catching him looking at a slider on the outside corner. Helsely’s command was generally a lot better, with most of his pitches around the edges of the strike zone.

He threw a first-pitch ball to James Wood, but still managed to even the count at 2-2 while throwing nothing but sliders. He broke out his curveball — the only one he threw on the night — to get a lineout from Wood.

“There’s a lot to like. The way the slider, below the strike zone, getting chases and swings and misses there,” Carlos Mendoza told reporters after the game. “Tried a few times to elevate the fastball, even though he didn’t get swing and miss on the nine-hole hitter, it was effective enough with the fastball. Throwing strikes but executing when he needs to.”

The damage against Helsley’s fastball has been his most obvious problem this year. Hitters entered the night hitting .433 with a .691 slugging percentage against it. Over his last two outings, he’s gotten three whiffs with the pitch and not allowed a hit. It’s a tiny sample size, but the most important takeaway is that Helsley is finding a comfortable balance with his pitches to where he can deliver shutdown outings.

“I’ve been saying, we need him,” Mendoza said. “This is a guy that’s proven before in this league. It’s good to see him out there in that situation, up two in the seventh, in high leverage. For him to get three outs was huge.”

Helsley’s continued progression will be something to keep an eye on as the regular season winds down. His final numbers aren’t going to look pretty, but him returning to form would be a massive relief in the late innings of meaningful games. The stretch run and October are all about playing your best when it matters most — and Helsley might just be one piece of the puzzle that rounds into shape at just the right time.

Helsely likely has at least a few more auditions before the Mets’ potential postseason run begins. They still need to secure a spot, up only two games in the Wild Card standings. When it gets this down to the wire, a late-innings hold could be the difference between making the playoffs or not.

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