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The Cardinals are not mulling a move to the rotation for Helsley, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. All 239 appearances for Helsley at the major-league level have come in relief, but he came up through the minors as a starting pitcher. While there has been some speculation the Cardinals might consider giving the 30-year-old another chance to start, it does not appear that is in the plans following Helsley's major-league-leading 49 saves in 2024. They will, however, reportedly entertain trade offers for Helsley, who is entering his final year of arbitration eligibility.
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Helsley allowed a hit and struck out two in a scoreless inning to earn the save in Friday's 6-3 win over the Giants. Helsley set the Cardinals' single-season saves record at 49, surpassing Trevor Rosenthal's 48 from 2015. Helsley has posted a 6.2-inning scoreless streak with seven saves since he took a blown save Sept. 3. The closer is at a 2.04 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 79:23 K:BB through 66.1 innings this season. Helsley's recent workload has been manageable, so it seems likely he'll have an opportunity to go for the 50-save mark if a chance arises in the Cardinals' last two games.
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Helsley earned a save Wednesday, inducing a double play on the only pitch he threw against the Rockies. St. Louis carried a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth frame, but Matthew Liberatore gave up a leadoff homer to Brenton Doyle and issued a one-out walk to Michael Toglia to prompt Helsley's entrance in a save situation. Helsley didn't take long to extinguish Colorado's hopes of a comeback, as Sam Hilliard grounded into a game-ending double play on the right-hander's first pitch. The save was Helsley's league-leading 48th of the campaign, and he has an outside chance of reaching 50 with four games remaining on St. Louis' schedule.
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Helsley threw a perfect inning and earned a save against Cleveland on Sunday. Helsley retired Cleveland's 1-2-3 hitters in order on 11 pitches to close out the 2-1 victory. He moved back ahead of Emmanuel Clase for the solo MLB lead with 47 saves. Helsley has converted five save chances in a row since blowing one in Milwaukee on Sept. 3, and he has not allowed an earned run since Aug. 6. He owns a 2.09 ERA with a 77:23 K:BB through 64.2 innings. Helsley could become the first closer to reach 50 saves since Edwin Diaz in 2018.
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Helsley earned a save against the Guardians on Saturday, striking out all three batters he faced in a perfect ninth inning. Helsley had just a one-run lead to work with upon entering in the ninth frame, but he made things look easy by notching three punchouts on 12 pitches. The right-hander continued an excellent season in which he's tied for the major-league lead with 46 saves while posting a 2.12 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 77:23 K:BB over 63.2 innings. Helsley has really had his strikeout stuff working of late, as he's registered multiple strikeouts in five of his past six appearances and has posted a 15:1 K:BB over seven frames during that stretch.
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Stats
Year | Team | APP | GS | INN | W | L | S | K | BBI | HA | ERA | WHIP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2024 | STL | 65 | 0 | 66.3 | 7 | 4 | 49 | 79 | 23 | 50 | 2.03 | 1.10 |
2023 | STL | 33 | 0 | 36.7 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 52 | 17 | 22 | 2.45 | 1.06 |