Helsley dazzles in latest season debut

Ryan Helsley really likes to make a good first impression.
The Cardinals prospect tossed five hitless innings in his Florida State League debut Sunday, striking out six and walking one, before Class A Advanced Palm Beach fell, 6-3, to St. Lucie at Roger Dean Stadium.

"Emotions were high, first start of the year. It was a great day out here to pitch and it was a fun day to pitch," the 22-year-old right-hander said. "I felt like I haven't pitched in a while, but it was fun to get out there and throw. I just tried to take it pitch by pitch and take it from there."
Since being selected in the fifth round of the 2015 Draft, Helsley has a 0.00 ERA with nine punchouts and six walks in three starts in season debuts in the St. Louis system.
"I just try to take each game the same way, but I've been fortunate enough to go out there and my defense made some plays for me and my catchers have called good games," he said. "So I don't think I deserve all the credit, but it's been some good first days for me."
Helsley retired his first nine batters Sunday, then worked around a leadoff walk to John Mora in the fourth. An inning later, the Northeastern State product struck out Mets' No. 21 prospect Jhoan Urena, who reached on a wild pitch. He got out of trouble by retiring Nick Sergakis on a fly ball to right field.
Even though the no-hitter was intact, Helsley's afternoon was over after 77 pitches.
"I threw my fastball -- it was OK, [but] I didn't locate as well as I probably could've," he said. "I tried to use my off-speed pitches, keep them off-balance and try to keep the hitters guessing."
Helsley has managed to stay under the radar, despite a dominant start to his professional career. The Oklahoma native boasts a 1.67 ERA with 150 punchouts and 39 walks over 140 1/3 innings in 29 games, including 27 starts.
"Just want to go out each start and compete each pitch and try to stay healthy all year and have a full season and try to help my team win," he said. "It was a fun five innings. A tough loss, but that's just how baseball is."
Mets No. 11 prospect Wuilmer Becerra ended the no-hit bid with an RBI single in the sixth off reliever Juan Perez. Jacob Evans pitched a pair of hitless innings to keep the one-hitter going before St. Lucie rallied for five runs in the ninth.
Urena and Jeff Diehl sandwiched RBI singles around a run-scoring double by Sergakis to make a winner of Justin Brantley (1-0), who fanned two over two scoreless frames.