The Orioles today announced that they have agreed to terms with right-handed pitcher RYAN HELSLEY on a two-year major league contract for the 2026-27 seasons with a player opt-out following 2026.
Helsley, 31, is a two-time All-Star and the 2024 Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year. He went 3-4 with 21 saves, a 4.50 ERA (28 ER/56.0 IP), 61 hits (8 HR), 25 walks (3 IBB), and 63 strikeouts in 58 appearances between the St. Louis Cardinals (36 G) and New York Mets (22 G) last season. All 21 saves came with the Cardinals before being acquired by the Mets in exchange for three minor leaguers on July 30. The right-hander has recorded 77 saves since returning from injury on September 1, 2023, second most in the majors during that period behind Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase (79 SV). The Tahlequah, Okla. native set the Cardinals single-season saves record with 49 in 2024, the most by a major leaguer since New York-NL’s Edwin Díaz (57 SV) in 2018.
Since the start of 2022, opponents are batting .141 (50-for-354) against his slider, the sixth-lowest average among major league relievers off a single pitch (min. 250 AB) during that time. According to Baseball Savant, Helsley’s slider had a run value of 12 in 2025, tied for the fifth best in the majors. He was also tied for fifth in slider run value with 13 in 2024, but the pitch’s run value per 100 pitches was 2.8, the best in the majors on a slider and tied for the third-best pitch in the majors that season behind Cleveland’s Cade Smith’s four-seam fastball (3.0 RV/100) and Emmanuel Clase’s cutter (3.1 RV/100).
Helsley was originally selected by St. Louis in the fifth round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft out of Northeastern State University (OK). In 297 career appearances between the Cardinals (275 G) and Mets (22 G), he’s 31-18 with 105 saves, a 2.96 ERA (105 ER/319.2 IP), and 377 strikeouts.
The Orioles’ 40-man roster currently has 39 players.
