Ryan Helsley gave the Orioles exactly the kind of jolt they were chasing when they brought him in to close games. For a few weeks, it looked like Baltimore had finally found the ninth-inning answer it had been missing since Félix Bautista went down. Then Helsley’s right elbow got in the way, and the season unraveled fast.
The opening chapter was electric. On Opening Day against the Twins, Helsley carved through the ninth in a 2-1 win, striking out the side on 19 pitches.
Six of those pitches came in at 100 MPH, and one touched 101.9. That was the hardest pitch thrown by an Oriole since Bautista hit 102.3 in 2023, and it mattered for a staff that combined for only five triple-digit pitches across 2024 and 2025.
Helsley also flashed a splitter to go with the fastball and slider. “That was the best we’ve seen Hels,” Craig Albernaz said afterward.
For a stretch, the results matched the radar gun. By April 21, Helsley owned a 1.93 ERA and six saves when he entered against the Royals.
That night turned messy in a hurry: he threw just nine strikes in 22 pitches, walked two batters and then allowed the winning run to score on his second wild pitch. It was his first outing with two wild pitches since 2019, though it seemed like an isolated hiccup at the time.
He answered with a save against the Astros on April 28, and then disappeared for a long time.
At the end of April, the Orioles shut him down with right elbow inflammation. Helsley said he had felt something about a week earlier and thought it would pass.
Testing didn’t show anything alarming, and Albernaz said the level of concern was “not high at all.” Even with the walks, Helsley was still doing the job Baltimore had signed him to do: he was 7-for-7 in save chances with a 2.53 ERA and 15 strikeouts over 10.2 innings.
The break lasted six weeks. Helsley returned on June 17 after two rehab outings at Norfolk, saying he felt “pain-free” and like “my normal self,” while also noting he would need “a couple outings or so” to get back into rhythm.
The first few appearances were rough, and he posted a 7.71 ERA over five games after returning. Then things started to stabilize.
He had gone three straight outings without allowing an earned run when the elbow flared again. On July 1, he felt discomfort while warming up for a save chance against the White Sox, and two days later he was back on the injured list.
This time, Albernaz said the concern was “high.”
That was effectively the end of Helsley’s season, even if the formal ending took longer. He was moved to the 60-day IL in July, sought more opinions on the elbow, and eventually made it back to a mound for a scoreless rehab inning at Norfolk on September 12.
But with only a week left in the season, the Orioles chose not to push it. They shut him down on September 19.
“We decided,” said GM Mike Elias, that rushing Helsley back “might not be the wisest play,” adding that the club would “gear him toward 2027.”
Helsley’s final line for Baltimore was a 4.11 ERA over 15.1 innings in 17 games, with eight saves in nine chances. The numbers don’t tell the full story, though. Before the elbow issues, he looked like the late-inning weapon the Orioles needed.
Without him, the bullpen never quite had the same edge. Albernaz turned to a closer-by-committee setup, but it didn’t really replace Helsley’s ability to finish games.
That was especially obvious on September 19, the same day Helsley was shut down and 6’8” Bautista returned after 14 months away. Even then, Bautista still didn’t seem fully “back,” either.
Now the focus shifts to Helsley’s contract, which includes a $14 million player option for 2027. After an injury-shortened year, it would be surprising if he walked away from that money and tested free agency, so the expectation is that he stays put. If that happens, Baltimore would head into 2027 with two big-time arms at the back end in Helsley and Bautista, while Yennier Cano could settle into the setup role where he’s been at his best.
There’s plenty of reason for belief. Helsley led the majors with 49 saves and a 2.04 ERA for the Cardinals in 2024, and he’s a two-time All-Star. His 2025 with the Mets was rough, with a 7.20 ERA in 22 games, but his first month in Baltimore suggested that version was the outlier.
Relievers can turn quickly, and back-to-back half-seasons with elbow trouble is no small concern for a pitcher who lives in the upper 90s and beyond. Even so, the version of Helsley Baltimore saw in April was real. If the Orioles can get that pitcher back for a full season in 2027, it would go a long way toward changing the look of their bullpen.
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