Rico

Garcia

Helsley had been warming up, but then sat down in the bullpen and was caught on camera flexing his elbow and grabbing it, which didn’t inspire a lot of confidence in his health. Considering he was already on the injured list earlier this season with elbow inflammation, this is not a great sign. We’ll wait for more word from the Orioles, but Rico Garcia would operate as the high-leverage reliever again if Hesley were to miss time, but that would not mean he gets every save chance.

Garcia has earned three saves during Ryan Helsley’s absence, but he has now given up runs in three of his last four appearances, taking his ERA from 0.68 to 1.82. With Helsley set to return, it seems fine to drop Garcia in mixed leagues now.

Helsley, who is coming back from elbow inflammation, averaged 97.9 mph with his nine fastballs, which is just a tad down from his 98.7 mph average on the year. He might be activated after the off day Monday, though the Orioles might have him set up for Rico Garcia a time or two before returning him to the closer’s role.

Helsley receives the green light to return to game action after completing a live batting practice session earlier this week. The hard-throwing 31-year-old closer has been out recovering from elbow inflammation since late April. He’ll need a couple rehab outings to round back into shape before returning to Baltimore’s bullpen, which will bump Rico Garcia back into a setup role.

A rare failure from Garcia saw him give up a 360-foot homer to Randy Arozarena with the automatic runner on in the 10th. It’s his first loss in 30 appearances this season. He’s given up three homers but just four earned runs to date. He should remain worth using in mixed leagues until Ryan Helsley returns.

It’s presumably the final checkmark before Helsley heads out on a minor league rehab assignment. The flame-throwing 31-year-old closer has been on the shelf recovering from elbow inflammation since late April. He’ll need a handful of tune-up outings in order to get back up to speed, especially given the lengthy layoff, but he’s trending towards a mid-June return. Rico Garcia will continue handling save situations for the Orioles in his absence.

Garcia got the call to protect a two-run lead in the ninth inning and needed just 14 pitches (10 strikes) to end it. He struck out Willson Contreras and Masataka Yoshida before getting Mickey Gasper to fly out to end it. He’ll continue handling the closing duties for Baltimore until Ryan Helsley (elbow) is ready to return at some point later this month.

Helsley appears to be getting close to heading out on a minor league rehab assignment, but he still hasn’t progressed to facing hitters in a live batting practice session. The hard-throwing 31-year-old stopper has been on the shelf with elbow inflammation since late April. There’s no real urgency to rush him back since unheralded Rico Garcia has done a phenomenal job as Baltimore’s primary ninth-inning option during his absence.

Garcia is clearly the No. 1 reliever in the Orioles pen with Ryan Helsley out. Anthony Nunez, who briefly seemed like the team’s favorite for saves, took a blown save after giving up a run in the eighth today. He currently has a 5.11 ERA, compared to 0.77 for Garcia.

Helsley will have to check a couple additional boxes, including progressing to throwing bullpen sessions and facing hitters in live batting practice, before he’s cleared to head out on a minor league rehab assignment. That ramp-up process figures to take a couple weeks, which pushes his likely return back into early-to-mid June. The hard-throwing 31-year-old stopper has been working his way back from elbow inflammation since late April. It’ll be Rico Garcia handling the closing duties for the Orioles for at least another couple weeks.