Helsley as a starter ?

[ramfandan]

Multiple teams have expressed interest in converting Helsley to a starting pitcher.
According to an article in The Athletic (subscription required), the Detroit Tigers are among several teams looking at Helsley as a potential piece in their rotation, with him possibly serving as a complement to ace Tarik Skubal if he remains in Detroit.

Starting wouldn't be foreign to Helsley. During his time in the Cardinals' farm system, Helsley pitched most of his games out of the rotation before the Cardinals converted him to a closer upon his promotion to the big leagues. In the minors, Helsley pitched in 87 games and started 69 of them.

To pitch in a major league rotation, Helsley would need to tweak his arsenal. Thus far in his career, Helsley has relied almost exclusively on a fastball and slider, but with starters generally needing at least four pitches, Helsley will be forced to expand his repertoire and hone his little-used curveball and cutter.



Helsley has mentioned that he would like to return to St. Louis, and some outlets have linked the two for a possible reunion, especially given a possibly deflated price tag after his immense struggles in Queens. Helsley said on the "Cardinal Territory" podcast that he expects to hear from the Cardinals this offseason and that he has talked with the Cardinals' new president of baseball operations, Chaim Bloom, after he was sent to New York.


If Helsley were to return to St. Louis, the Cardinals might be one of the squads that could attempt to convert him to a starting role. The Cardinals' top starter, Sonny Gray, is a candidate to be traded this offseason, and Miles Mikolas is unlikely to re-sign, leaving their starting corps woefully thin. Placing Helsley in their rotation would help shore up what is likely to be one of the Cardinals' major weaknesses in 2026, and Helsley may even be willing to take a discount to rejoin the team where he spent most of hi



Sure haven't heard any speculation Bloom would want to take on the project of returning Helsley to a starter as he did in his minor leauge days.
Guess the article does reflect how desperate teams are in the majors to find starting rotation guys.

[sdaltons]

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[jbrach]

good luck with that, he barely got through an inning this past season

[Cardinals4Life]

This mighr be one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard. Let's take one of the elite closers in baseball (except for his short time in Queens) and attempt to convert him back into a starter. I guy with basically 2 pitches who cannot pitch more than 1 inning and seemingly can't go back to back days. Yeah, that makes sense! Then to suggest that STL will....give me a break! If he found his way back to STL, then he would be back as a closer.

[mattmitchl44]

Helsley hasn't thrown more than 70 innings in a season since 2018.

What could possibly go wrong?

[Ozziesfan41]

Helsley hasn't thrown more than 70 innings in a season since 2018.

What could possibly go wrong?

lol no kidding he will be toast by the all star game

[Banner29]

Helsley hasn't thrown more than 70 innings in a season since 2018.

What could possibly go wrong?

Right. Theres a reason that the Cardinals, for all of their starting pitching issues since 2018, have never once thought of him as a starter.

This is just simply trying to get too cute and creative rather than just simply going out and signing/trading for an actual starter. Too many GMs/POBOs struggle with just getting from point A to point B

[C-Unit]

I give it a worse chance than Jordan Hicks of going well

[Bomber1]

The list of good closers that later became even passable starters is short.

Much easier to go from starter to closer.

Helsley’s command isn’t nearly good enough to make the switch.

[CorneliusWolfe]

Helsley hasn't thrown more than 70 innings in a season since 2018.

What could possibly go wrong?

That was my first thought. Seems worse than the Jordan Hicks experiment.

[CardsBest]

He routinely took 20 to 30 pitches to get through one inning. For having a high velocity fastball it was very hittable. His breaking pitches were his best pitch. Even then he was struggling to get through innings with lower pitch counts.