So yesterday, a report came out that Ryan Helsley, formerly with the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets, was drawing interest from the Tigers. When I read this, I thought it was a great fit. Helsley was a huge flop as a member of the Metropolitans down the stretch last year, but his career has been very consistent. He's a hard thrower with a lot of career saves. I think the idea of him pitching out of the bullpen for Detroit would be a match made in heaven. Sadly, because I tend not to be the least illiterate human being in the world, I didn't realize that Detroit was among the teams willing to turn Ryan Helsley into a starter. My question is why?
While I am sure there are examples of players who started in the bullpen and eventually became serviceable starters, I feel like, in recent history, whenever there's an experiment like this, it often doesn't go well. I'm just not really a believer in fixing something that isn't broken. I understand that Helsley was a disaster for the Mets down the stretch last season, but his pitch data was still solid, and I'm not going to turn down a guy with a fastball in the triple digits. From a bullpen standpoint, this is exactly what the Tigers have been missing. We've complained for multiple years about the lack of swing and miss in this bullpen. Helsley provides that.
If this were earlier in the offseason, when Detroit was going to be trading Tarik Skubal, I would be more understanding about the idea of turning a free agent reliever into a starting pitcher. I know that in the minor leagues, Helsley has some experience as a starter, but he hasn't started a professional game since 2019, and he's about to enter his age-31 season. I think Detroit would be an excellent park for him. While strike-throwing has been something of an issue in the past, the fact that the Tigers are showing interest in him makes me think that there's something mechanical that they believe that they can fix, but starting pitching doesn't feel like it's much of an issue here. Behind the best pitcher in baseball, you should have a healthy Reese Olson with Casey Mize and Jack Flaherty right behind them as your starters. I'm not opposed to adding another pitcher in free agency, but I would prefer someone a bit more established as a starter.
I think the best and worst qualities of this current regime are that they consistently believe they are the smartest guy in the room. There have been certain instances where that has worked. They claimed Tyler Holton off waivers, and he's become one of the best relievers in the American League over the last several years. They believed in Jack Flaherty when nobody else did, and he gave them a tremendous season in 2024. There are examples of it working, but I think Helsley's situation would be pretty comparable to Jordan Hicks'. When Jordan Hicks was in St. Louis, he was the hardest-throwing pitcher in baseball, with a fastball that topped out at 105 mph. The San Francisco Giants tried to convert him into a starter and, in a lot of ways, ended up derailing his career. He simply hasn't been the same pitcher ever since San Francisco removed him from the bullpen. I think there's an obvious hole in this bullpen that Helsley could fix, but I don't want the Tigers to outsmart themselves.