JUPITER, Fla. — The challenge placed at the table for Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley came from starter Miles Mikolas. They both had innings to pitch and spring training work to get in that afternoon against Washington, so here was the deal: Helsley could not have a fastball slower than Mikolas’ fastest one.
Mikolas set the bar at 94 mph in the third inning.
Helsley’s first pitch of the fifth was 95.6 mph.
That’s as close as it would get.
Helsley blitzed through his assigned inning by retiring all three batters he faced on 12 pitches. He got ahead of the final two batters he faced with first-pitch breaking balls for strikes, and he finished each of those at-bats with fastballs, at 96.3 mph and 98.2 mph. Helsley has yet to give up a run this spring as he speeds away from last season’s injury interruption toward a new season, potentially a full season — and there’s where things get interesting.
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Drafted in 2015, Helsley has the longest continuous tenure in the Cardinals organization of any player on the 40-man roster. He’s been an All-Star and a postseason closer, yet he’s not had a multiyear contract as he comes within 18 months of free agency. To date, there has not been discussion about an extension, but Helsley said he’d welcome those talks.
“Coming up (in the minors), free agency and those kind of things almost seem like a myth — they’re so far away,” Helsley said. “But if they were real talks, if they’re serious about it, I would listen. Security in baseball is always kind of big. You don’t want to sell yourself short, but you can’t deny the interest. If it were to come up, I’m sure we’d listen.”
As he begins what could be a defining season for him as a reliever, Helsley has all of the makings of a late-inning lightning bolt, right down to the entry music and Busch Stadium light show, but he still seeks some of those classic closer resume builders, ones that usually lead to an extension for security in a volatile role.
Over the past two seasons, the metrics adore Helsley with a 99th percentile fastball velocity (99.6 mph), a 99th percentile expected batting average against (.152) and a 99th percentile strikeout rate (39.3%). But he’s never pitched more than 65 innings in a season. He was an All-Star in 2022 and received a vote for the National League Cy Young Award. But he’s yet to have his first 20-save season. A forearm strain limited him to 33 games in 2023.
“I feel like my whole time with the Cardinals has been different than most closers,” Helsley said. “With most closers, you’re thinking just the ninth. Ever since I’ve been in the big leagues, especially the past two years, I think more like a Swiss Army Knife — coming in for the seventh, maybe the eighth. It’s more of that big-moment-type pitcher, I guess you could say, instead of that one-inning closer.
“There’s value in being able to pitch like that.”
And there’s strategy.
The Cardinals retooled their bullpen with more options at setup — including additions Keynan Middleton and Andrew Kittredge to a group that includes JoJo Romero and Giovanny Gallegos — but still intend to target Helsley for the highest-leverage spots. If the middle of the opponent’s order is up in a close game in the eighth, cue the AC/DC — here comes Helsley. Where the Cardinals plan to adjust his usage is the length of such outings. If they limit the appearances, the team believes it can get more of them from their right-hander and that there will be more options in late innings to make that possible.
“Quite honestly, you can look at how he was used a couple of years ago compared to last year, and it’s like he threw a lot of multiples,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “Steering away from that could be helpful. Just give him one inning at a time and allow him to recover better rather than getting two outs and getting the next inning as well. We were in need for it when we did it.”
In his first 22 appearances of 2023, Helsley had as many with more than three outs (nine) than he did of exactly one inning. A forearm injury put him on the injured list in June, and he did not return until September, a month after the Cardinals surrendered to the standings and started focusing on readying for the next season. Within that context — not one of a contending team — Helsley shined in September. He had seven saves in eight attempts. His final 10 appearances all came in games the Cardinals won, and only once did he not throw the final pitch.
Opponents hit .108 against him; he had a 0.77 ERA and struck out 19 in 11 2/3.
“In September, I think I had seven saves, and if you do that for six months, there are 42 saves,” Helsley said. “You want to be counted on like that. It would be cool to have 30-plus saves in a season. As a closer, you could hang your hat on that. It would be a good benchmark on having a good season and helping your team win.”
In his fourth outing of spring, Helsley got a ground out on that 95.6 mph fastball. To the second batter he faced, Washington’s Jacob Young, Helsley threw three different pitches, all at different levels of velocity. Young took a first-pitch, 77.4 mph curve for a strike. He fouled off a 96.8 mph fastball and then fouled off an 84.7 mph slider. He popped up on the fastball. Nationals leadoff hitter C.J. Abrams saw a similar array. He took an 87.2 mph slider for strike one. He took the curve for strike two. He grounded out on the fastball, at 98.2 mph.
The solid September sent Helsley into a standard offseason, and outside of a stomach bug that sidelined him for a few days, he’s had an as-scheduled spring.
A year ago, he was fresh out of an arbitration hearing, stung by what he had heard from the team about what he had not done during his best season. He said it was unpleasant to “take that on the chin.” Helsley lost the hearing. This past winter, eligible again for arbitration, Helsley had a far different experience coming off an injury-abbreviated season. His new agent — he’s now represented by the same group as Nolan Arenado and Lars Nootbaar — negotiated a one-year, $3.8 million deal.
Ahead of last year’s hearing, there was some discussion on an extension that did not gain traction. Helsley watched as the Cardinals, near the trade deadline, explored an extension with reliever Jordan Hicks and then traded him when discussions lost momentum. Helsley said “ideally” he’d avoid contract talks during the season, but it’s not when the talks happen, it’s how productive they are. Substance matters more than timing.
Kind of like his late-inning assignments.
“Doing it another, staying healthy — that would all help my case,” Helsley said. “I would love for it to be here, to stay here. It’s home for me, and I’m a homegrown guy.”
Mikolas gets hits, misses through 4
In his third start of spring training, Mikolas upped his pitch count to 63, but it’s what opponents keep doing with pitch No. 1 that he finds amusing.
Abrams drilled it for a base hit Monday.
“I’ve got to throw something different first pitch because everybody so far is spring training has ambushed my first pitch,” Mikolas said. “I’m just trying to get the old spring training heater, here you go, and everybody is jumping out of their shoes at it. So maybe I’ll throw a knuckleball first pitch next time.”
Or he could go for the curve. Mikolas allowed six hits and one run through his four innings of the Cardinals’ 11-4 loss. He also struck out five. He got three swings and misses on his change-up and seven total, all on off-speed pitches. The curveball drew four swings from Nationals hitters, and three of them missed.