The New York Mets made a trade at the deadline to acquire relief pitcher Ryan Helsley from the St. Louis Cardinals. He was coming off a monster 2024 season, where he received the National League's Reliever of the Year award.
However, since being acquired by the Mets, he has looked like a shell of himself. He has struggled to keep the ball in the ballpark, letting up home run after home run, frustrating the fanbase.
The same could be said for his performance on Wednesday in the final game of a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers. With his team down one run, Helsley gave up a three-run home run off the bat of Kerry Carpenter in the seventh inning.
New York would lose the game by a score of 6-2, failing to secure the sweep. After the game, manager Carlos Medoza spoke to reporters about his struggling reliever, via Fox Sports.
"Yeah, I mean that's the frustrating part here that this is a guy, you look up and he's 102 (mph), and they continue to take some really good swings, and then the way they are taking the breaking ball, too, and I don't think it is tipping related. He made some adjustments," said Mendoza. "How do we help this guy? Because right now, we are not doing that, and when you got that type of stuff and they keep hitting it like that, something is going on here."
What is going on with Ryan Helsley?
When a pitcher sees a drastic change like Ryan Helsley has, the first thought is that he must be tipping his pitches. This is something that Mendoza does not think is a factor. So, if that is not the case, what is?
One could point to his new roles with the Mets as a high-leverage setup man instead of his closer role he had with the Cardinals. While many may think the position switch is minimal, just look back at Craig Kimbrel's time with the Chicago White Sox.
Kimbrell was an elite closer when he was acquired by the Sox, but made the move to being the team's setup man with Liam Hendriks taking the closing duties. He went from a guy controlling games to somebody who struggled to get consistent outs.
Hopefully, Helsley can get back into the swing of things on the mound and get his confidence back. The Mets will surely need his help if they can hold on and make the postseason this year.