Helsley working to correct 'glaring and obvious' pitch tipping

NEW YORK -- Reliever Ryan Helsley, one of the Mets’ top additions before last month’s Trade Deadline, is working through pitch tipping issues that team officials have identified since acquiring him.

Almost immediately upon Helsley’s arrival in early August, team officials became convinced that he was tipping. The issue grew more pronounced Tuesday night against the Phillies, when multiple batters made what manager Carlos Mendoza called “really good swings on fastballs, really good takes on sliders.”

“We’ve got to look back and see what we’re missing,” Mendoza said that night. “For teams to have comfortable at-bats like that, something’s going on here that we have to figure out.”

Helsley and Mets coaches have since identified the issue as a “little tick” the right-hander makes with his arms when coming set. That arm position changes based on whether Helsley is throwing a fastball or slider, which “makes it a whole lot easier to hit.”

“I’m not trying to sound arrogant or anything, but I feel like my stuff’s too good to get hit around as consistently as it has since I’ve been here,” Helsley said. “We’ve played mostly teams in the hunt, and a lot of teams nowadays will have guys who look specifically for those things. It’s pretty glaring and obvious when I’m doing it.”

Since that outing against the Phillies, Helsley has worked during catch play to train his body out of those habits. His hope is to build enough muscle memory that he no longer has to think about his arm position on the mound and can focus simply on pitching.

“A hundred’s not going to play the same when guys know it’s coming,” Helsley said before the Mets' 7-4 loss to the Marlins on Thursday night at Citi Field.

Since joining the Mets, Helsley has a 10.38 ERA in 11 appearances despite topping out at 103 mph. He’s given up 10 earned runs over the last seven of those games, prompting Mendoza to search for lower-leverage spots for him. Those have been hard to come by, however, and the Mets are still counting on Helsley to be a high-leverage reliever once he corrects his issues.

Although Helsley dealt with some minor pitch-tipping problems over parts of seven seasons in St. Louis, they never affected him to this extent. During those years, he established himself as one of the game’s best leverage relievers, with a 2.67 ERA in 275 appearances.

“Dude, it’s so frustrating,” Helsley said. “I started out really great -- my first three outings were good. The last five, six, seven haven’t been really that good. It’s definitely frustrating, especially being traded for and thinking you’re getting the polar opposite of what I’ve shown. But I know I’m capable of it. I’ve done it a lot in my career. I’m just trying to be that guy.”