Always Be Closing: The Art of Getting Hot Midyear

 

Since the beginning of June, Carlos Estevez has 9 saves and a 0.00 ERA, while Ryan Helsley has a 2.12 ERA and 14 saves. The eyes of the league are upon these guys, and even if the relief picture favored people like Clay Holmes, Jordan Romano and Kyle Finnegan prior to this, it's very much about these guys at the moment. 

What's important about this is that both Helsley and Estevez are guys who previously flourished in middle relief positions. Helsley famously made an All-Star Game as a middle reliever in 2022, still managing to save 22 games despite not being the primary closing option [though he would become that after a shift in the depth chart]. Estevez was primarily a setup man type in Colorado, and was only given the ninth upon arriving in Anaheim last year, due to, again, a lack of more experienced options ahead of him. As I've explained, this is really what closing pitching has become. Not somebody who's had the most success as a ninth inning option, someone who's had the most success as a relief option in general. A lot of the time, great middle relievers may have trouble becoming great closers, even if these two have made the jump pretty amicably. 

It does come back to the question of 'had these two become their careers as dedicated closers, would they continue to have this much success?' And it's a loaded answer.

All you can really use to gauge this is both these pitchers' consistency as relievers. Helsley, for the most part, has been durable all his career. His toughest go of things was during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and he did struggle with a minor injury throughout 2021. But when he's been healthy, he's been solid, and had he been like Jordan Hicks and closed off the bat, I think he'd have more seasons very similar to his current 32-save campaign. Meanwhile, perhaps Denver is to blame but Estevez had a 4.60 ERA through his whole tenure in Colorado. His best season came at the very end of that, in 2022. At the same time, as much as you want to give him the benefit of the doubt, closing games for the Rockies is not an easy job, and you can see campaigns where he's given the ninth and loses it, just due to how mediocre he could be in save situations. 

And so the closing pitcher is less a time farmed moniker and more a case of 'what have you done for me lately?'. Helsley, to his credit, is very close to being in a position where he can comfortably close games for the rest of his career, but I said that about both Jordan Hicks and Trevor Rosenthal. Meanwhile, Anaheim has also been a city that takes mediocre relievers and gives them an opportunity to hit career highs as a closer, as that's what happened to Blake Parker, Ernesto Frieri and Hansel Robles. 

This could be THE moment for both Estevez and Helsley, and it could keep going for one and run out for the other. We're just gonna have to find out.

Coming Tomorrow- You see, the problem with breaking out in your late 20s is that your prime years last a split second and you spend a lot of time hurt. That's what this guy's been finding out.