Orioles move Ryan Helsley (elbow) to 60-day IL

Elias added that Helsley, who hasn’t pitched since making a minor league relief appearance for Triple-A Norfolk last weekend, is going to focus on being ready for next season after missing the final three months of the season with elbow discomfort. The hard-throwing 32-year-old stopper has a $14 million player option for next season that he seems highly likely to pick up after making just 17 appearances in his Orioles debut due to injury.

Helsley’s impending return would provide a massive lift for the Orioles during the final two weeks as they sit just three games out of the final playoff spot in the American League. Craig Albernaz has been rolling with a multi-pronged closer-by-committee approach that includes Rico Garcia, Andrew Kittredge, Yennier Cano and Josh Walker for the past couple weeks. They also have former stopper Félix Bautista on the verge of returning from the injured list. Helsley, who has been out with elbow discomfort since early July, figures to step into the closer role once he’s activated.

Helsley has been sidelined with elbow discomfort since July 1st, so he will likely need a few weeks to ramp back up. That does put his return to the big leagues in question for this season, but the Orioles are just three games out of the final playoff spot, so they’ll keep working to get their closer back in case he can help them over the final week or so of the season.

Helsley has been on the IL since the end of June with a second round of elbow soreness. He might return for the final 7-10 days of the regular season.

Helsley told reporters he’s aiming to make it back to Baltimore before the end of the season, but he’s going to be racing against the clock to make it happen. The Orioles are making it work with a closer-by-committee approach with Andrew Kittredge, Rico Garcia and Yennier Cano splitting the closer role.

The 32-year-old hurler has been long-tossing for the past week or so as he eases back into action. It’s still going to be at least a couple of weeks before he gets up on a mound. Helsley is holding out hope for a return before the end of the regular season, but until he throws with any sort of intensity it’s impossible to place a timeline on his return.

“Just trying to make sure that it’s out of there,” Helsley said. “The only way, logically, is to give it a little bit more time.” Helsley missed almost exactly six weeks with his previous elbow injury in May, so it’s feasible this will be closer to an eight-week recovery — assuming everything goes well — this time around. That would put him back around the start of September.

That’s relatively good news. Helsley will keep resting for now and then aim for a return down the stretch. One imagines he’ll be down for at least another month, and since the Orioles might get Félix Bautista back in September, it probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to hold on to Helsley in shallow leagues. Andrew Kittredge seems to have supplanted Tyler Wells as the favorite for saves in Baltimore’s pen for now. The team could trade for another option before the deadline.

Helsley is one of three pitchers seeking second opinions, with Keegan Aiken (elbow) and Colin Selby (shoulder) also visiting with specialists. Helsley was placed back on the injured list with right elbow discomfort over the weekend, and he won’t be eligible to return until after the All-Star break at the earliest. Just how long he’ll actually miss will be determined by how his meeting goes.

Helsley seems to have sustained the injury, or at least aggravated it, while warming up in the bullpen on Wednesday. No word yet from the Orioles on how much time they expect the 31-year-old right-hander to miss. Expect Rico Garcia to step back into a high-leverage role at the back end of the Orioles’ bullpen, though the last time Helsley was shelved it wound up being more of a committee approach than simply Garcia operating as the sole closer.