Ryan

Helsley

Helsley is still in the process of resting before he begins to build back up. The good news is that his UCL ligament itself is intact and he’s only dealing with inflammation, but he’s far from being out of the woods yet. This move clears a spot on the Orioles’ 40-man roster for the addition of Sam Huff on Sunday.

“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.

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.

Helsley came on with the game tied 3-3 in the 10th inning. With the automatic runner on second base, he allowed a go-ahead single to Daylen Lile and the National would go on to win 4-3. Helsley got the loss without actually giving up an earned run. His ERA is 4.11 and he has eight saves for the Orioles this year.

Helsley needed just 12 pitches to get through the Nationals’ hitters on Friday. The hard-throwing righty struck out C.J. Abrams on just three pitches and forced Dylan Crews to ground out in a five-pitch at-bat that featured only sliders. Helsley has now pitched back-to-back perfect innings after struggling in his first two outings since returning from the IL.

While the rest of the Orioles pen struggled today, Helsley did his part to send the game to extras, pitching his first clean inning in three outings since coming off the IL. Before that, Rico Garcia and Andrew Kittredge combined to give up three runs in the eighth. And though it wasn’t really his fault, Keegan Akin gave up two runs to lose the game in the 10th.

The final run Hesley gave up is unearned because Tyler O’Neill made an error on the throw home on the final play of the game. It may be unearned, but it was deserved. Helsley struggled to command anything, giving up two hits and two walks while throwing 10-of-23 pitches for strikes. It’s his first blown save of the season, but Helsley has given up multiple runs in both appearances since returning from the injured list. He should remain the closer for Baltimore, but a few more of these clunkers could make things interesting.