Earlier this week, the Mets were hinting at Ryan Helsley potentially tipping his pitches, but the veteran right-hander fully believes that's the cause of his issues since arriving in Queens.
“I’m not trying to sound arrogant or anything, but I feel like my stuff’s too good to get hit around as consistently as it has since I’ve been here,” Helsley told MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. “We’ve played mostly teams in the hunt, and a lot of teams nowadays will have guys who look specifically for those things. It’s pretty glaring and obvious when I’m doing it.”
After a few good outings since being traded to the Mets at the trade deadline, the 31-year-old has struggled mightily. In just his last five outings, he's allowed seven runs across 3.2 innings. His last appearance, Tuesday against the Phillies, saw Helsley allow the tying runs in the eighth inning, and he could only get one out.
That outing prompted manager Carlos Mendoza to intimate that teams have a tell on Helsley.
"Too good of a stuff for them to be taking some really good swings on fastballs, get really good takes on sliders. We got to look back and see what we’re missing," Mendoza said at the time. "For teams to have comfortable at-bats like that, something is going on here. We have to figure it out."
“A hundred’s not going to play the same when guys know it’s coming,” Helsley said.
Helsley told Will Sammon of The Athletic that this isn't the first time he's battled tipping issues. When he was with the Cardinals last season, he ran into some trouble with it, especially against the Cubs. And he actually knows what the problem is, but fixing it won't be easy.
He said the tip is a subconscious habit and he can correct it in bullpen sessions, but it hasn't yet translated to the mound consistently, especially with the pitch clock and being unable to step off.
“I think I know how to fix it," Helsley told The Athletic. "So it’s just being able to enforce that and that being my mental norm versus what I was doing to get my body to accept that and reinforce that.”
Entering Thursday's series opener against the Marlins, Helsley has pitched to a 10.38 ERA. He allowed only 12 runs in 36 appearances (36 innings) with the Cardinals this season, but has allowed 14 runs (10 earned) in 11 games (8.2 innings) with the Mets.
The apparent pitch tipping issues and his own command problems have compounded what has been a tough stint with the Mets, but he hopes it's only a matter of time before he can be effective again.
“My stuff is as good as it’s ever been on paper,” Helsley said. “It’s kind of an anomaly and weird in itself because as a pitcher, when you feel locked in and you feel great, you expect to put up good numbers. Obviously, I came here to try to help the team win but I haven’t done that yet. So that part stinks. But I’m trying to get this locked in and be someone who can help.”
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