Graduated from Sequoyah High School in Tahlequah, Okla., where he was an All-State performer in both baseball and basketball...Played college baseball at Northeastern State\ in in Tahlequah, Okla...Became the first former NSU baseball player to have his number (#8) retired in November 2022...Struck out 95 batters over 63.2 innings including four double-digit strikeout games during his sophomore year...Named Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association Freshman of the Year in 2014...Is a member of the Cherokee tribe...Resides in Cookson, Okla. with his wife, Alex, and daughter, Eliana Ray (8/19/22).
2024
NL Reliever Ranks: Saves (49, *1st), save opportunities (53, *1st), save percentage (92.5%, 1st), games finished (62, 1st), ERA (2.04, 9th), opponent slugging (.273, 9th), FIP (2.49, 9th)...Led Major League Baseball and established a new Cardinals single-season franchise record in saves (49) in 2024, breaking Trevor Rosenthal’s record of 48 from 2015...Joined Lee Smith (47 in 1991) and Bruce Sutter (36 in 1982 & 45 in 1984) as the third Cardinal (fourth instance) to lead Major League Baseball in saves since it became an official statistic in 1969...Unanimously selected as the Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year, becoming the first Cardinal to win the award in its current form (since 2015). Prior to Helsley, Ryan Franklin (August 2009) and Jason Isringhausen (May 2006) were both named Delivery Man of the Month...Named to the All-MLB First Team at Reliever with Cleveland's Emmanuel Clase...Named to his second career All-Star Game, but did not appear. Joined Hall of Famers Lee Smith (1991-93) & Bruce Sutter (1981, 1984) as Cardinals closers to be named to multiple All-Star teams (2022 & 2024)...Three-time NL Reliever of the Month winner (March/April, June, & September). Joined Ryan Franklin (August 2009) & Jason Isringhausen (May 2006) as fourth Cardinal winner...Joined Edwin Díaz (2022, four in 2018), Félix Batista (2023), and Emmanuel Clase (2022 and 2024) as three-time winners in the same season...Became the 17th pitcher (20th occurrence) to finish with 49+ saves, which were the most in the Majors since Seattle's Edwin Díaz converted 57 in 2018...Established new single-season career highs in appearances (65), saves, innings pitched (66.1) and games finished...St. Louis went 59-6 when he toed the rubber and are 131-21 (.862) since he took over the closing duties in 2022...Set both the Busch Stadium III (26) & Cardinals Home (27) record for saves in a season. Recorded a “Home” save at Rickwood Field on June 20 vs. San Francisco...Nailed down a Cardinals record 31 straight save opportunities from April 1-July 2, MLB’s second-longest save streak behind Emmanuel Clase (50) in 2024. His streak was snapped in game with a runner added in 10th inning...48 of his saves were exactly three outs, with the lone exception being his franchise record-tying 48th save of 0.2 innings on Sept. 25 at Colorado...Posted perfect outings during 24 saves, marking the most 1-2-3 saves in Cardinals history, surpassing Lee Smith’s previous record of 19 in 1992...Did not allow a run in an MLB-best 44 of 53 save opportunities, while 53 of his overall 65 outings were scoreless. Yielded two earned runs or more in six assignments. Combined to share in 67.5 percent of the team’s 83 victories with his 49 saves and seven wins, while his 56 combined saves/wins ranked 11th all-time in MLB history...Led MLB in saves in August (9), June (12) and April (10). His 12 saves in June were T-second most in Cards history for any month behind Lee Smith (15 in June 1993)...Became the eighth MLB closer with 32 saves prior to the All-Star break, also a Cardinals team record...Pitched on consecutive days 13 times, where he recorded 12 saves and 2.08 ERA (13.0 IP)...Did not allow an earned run over his final 17 games (17.2 IP) after Aug. 7...Broke the franchise save record with his 49th save of the year on Sept. 27 at San Francisco...Ranked eighth overall in MLB with 173 pitches of 100 MPH or faster (18.6% of 931 total pitches)...Averaged 99.6 MPH on his fastball, 5th-fastest in MLB.
2023
Led the team in saves (14) and save opportunities (19)...Missed 70 games with a right forearm strain from June 10-Aug. 31...Rehabbed with Memphis (AAA) and Springfield (AA) in Aug...Recorded four saves of four outs or more, T-second in MLB behind Félix Bautista (five)...Limited opposing right-handed batters to slash .134/.238/.164 (9-67) with a .402 OPS...Converted seven saves after Sept. 1 (third in the NL)...28 of his 33 outings were scoreless, yielded two earned runs or more in four assignments...Stranded 17 of 20 inherited runners...Ranked eighth overall in MLB with 151 pitches of 100 mph or faster (24.9% of 607 total pitches)...Averaged 99.7 mph on his fastball, fourth fastest in MLB...Pitched on consecutive days seven times, where he recorded six saves and 2.45 ERA (7.1 IP)...Allowed just one home run during the season, a three-run walk-off homer to Blake Sabol on April 25 at San Francisco...Tallied a six-out save with a season-high four strikeouts on May 12 at Boston, while also hurling a season-fast 103.1 mph four-seam fastball to Reese McGuire...In 11 games after being activated from 60-day injured list on Sept. 1, logged a 0.77 ERA (11.2 IP/1 ER), .108 opp. average (4-37), 19 strikeouts, seven saves and a 0.86 WHIP...Recorded the final four outs of Adam Wainwright’s 200th career win (Sept. 18 vs. Milwaukee, 1-0 victory).
2022
Opponent Batting Average (.128, 1st), WHIP (0.74, 1st), Baserunners/9 IP (6.68, 1st) & Hits/9 IP (3.90, 1st), Wins (9, 2nd), ERA (1.25, 2nd), Strikeouts (94, T-3rd), Strikeouts/9 IP (13.08, 6th), Saves (19, T-10th)...Posted single-season career highs in appearances (54), innings pitched (64.2), strikeouts, saves, and wins (9)....Finished 12th in the National League Cy Young Award voting, receiving one vote...Was one of two relief pitchers named to the All-MLB Second Team (Ryan Pressly)....Made his first career All-Star selection/appearance. Recorded a scoreless inning with a pair of strikeouts, while twice topping out at 103 MPH...St. Louis was 50-4 overall in his appearances and undefeated (26-0) over his final 26 games from 7/10-end of the regular season....Yielded one earned run in just seven of 54 appearances and no more than two earned runs in 53 of 54 assignments....Stranded 18 of 21 inherited runners....His 94 strikeouts ranked 7th-most among relievers in Cardinals single-season history....Set single-season records for Cardinals relievers in opposing on-base percentage (.201), WHIP (0.74), baserunner/9 IP (6.68), and strikeout percentage (39.3%), while tying franchise bests for ERA (1.25) and average against (.128)...Finished 3rd among qualified MLB relievers in strikeout rate behind Edwin Diaz (50.2%) and Devin Williams (40.0%)....Ranked fourth in MLB with 237 pitches of 100 MPH or faster, ranking second on the Cardinals behind Jordan Hicks (274). Registered 24.6% of his pitches at 100+ MPH, ranking third in MLB.....Averaged 99.6 MPH on his fastball, fifth-fastest in MLB....Threw the fastest pitch in MLB during the season, a 104.2 MPH fastball to Rowdy Tellez for a groundout on 9/27 at Milwaukee....Recorded the third Immaculate Inning in Cardinals history vs. Cincinnati (9/16), joining Bob Gibson (5/12/1969) and Jason Isringhausen (4/13/2002)....Pitched on consecutive days eight times, where he allowed four of his nine total runs (4.50 ERA)....Finished the season on a six-game win streak, second-longest active in the National League (Kyle Wright, 8)....Suffered a jammed middle finger on his pitching hand on 10/4 at Pittsburgh...Allowed four runs over 1.0+ innings in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series vs. Philadelphia and was charged with the loss.
2021
Posted career-high marks in appearances (51), innings pitched (47.1), strikeouts (47) and wins (6)... Finished the season on the 60-day Injured List with a right elbow stress reaction. Was placed on the 10-Day Injured List on August 20 and transferred to the 60-Day on September 1 as RHP Brandon Dickson was added to the 40-player roster... Led all National League pitchers and ranked 2nd in MLB behind Liam Hendriks (CWS, 10.0%) in Inherited Runners Scored Percentage (12.9%). Did not allow an inherited runner to score after June 30 (11 IR/0 S)... Allowed three of his four inherited runners to score in one inning vs. Arizona (6/30) on a bases-loaded walk, wild pitch and ground out. The other came on a sacrifice fly (4/28 vs. Philadelphia)... Ranked T-11th among National League relievers and T-2nd on the Cardinals with six wins... Appeared in 10 or more games each of the first four months of the season (April-12; May-12; June-11; July-11)... Ran off two sets of three-game win streaks (4/6-5/5 & 6/16-7/30)... Had 10 Holds on the season with a stretch of six from July 6-Aug. 14, T-9th among MLB pitchers during the stretch... Ranked 20th among MLB pitchers with 15 pitches of 100 MPH or higher, ranking 2nd on the Cardinals behind Jordan Hicks (52). Registered 1.9% of his pitches at 100 MPH or more, also ranking 20th in MLB... Opponents batted 1-for-12 (.083) against him in bases loaded situations with six strikeouts... Surrendered a career-high four runs at Cincinnati (4/4) in the third game of the season.
2020
Missed 21 games while sitting out on the Injured List...Finished the season with five straight scoreless appearances (9/18-present) covering 4.2 IP...Recorded his first MLB save at PIT (9/18[1]) getting the final out with bases loaded and a one-run lead...Earned his lone win of the season at CHI (9/5) in Game 2 of the doubleheader tossing 1.1 innings...Had two Holds, both against Pittsburgh.
2020 POSTSEASON: Made two relief appearances during the Wild Card Series at San Diego. Threw 1.1 innings in Game 1, allowing a hit and a run with a strikeout. Struck out Wil Myers, his only batter faced in the 5th inning, to strand two runners on base in Game 2. Stranded all three of his inherited runners during the postseason.
2019
High velocity rookie appeared in 24 games out of the bullpen in debut season...Was recalled (Memphis-AAA) and made his MLB debut on 4/16 at MIL with 2.1 innings in relief. Collected his 1st ML hit with single in the 7th inning off Chase Anderson in first career plate appearance...Was recalled six times during the 2019 season. Went 2-3 with a 4.58 ERA in 17 app. (7 starts) for Memphis...Of his 24 appearances, 11 were 2.0 innings or more with a season-high 3.0 at LAD (8/5)...Eight of his 2.0+ inning appearance were scoreless, ranking as the most appearances of 2.0 innings or more by a Cardinal in his first 15 MLB games since 1936 (Mike Ryba, 13)...Earned his first Major League win vs. COL (8/25) tossing 2.1 innings in relief with a season-high four strikeouts..He threw 18 pitches of 100+ mph (9th most in MLB), topping out at 101.5 twice (9/20 & 4/16 in MLB debut)...He and Jordan Hicks (206 pitches) were the only Cardinals to reach at least 100 mph...Threw 27.0% of his pitches at a velocity of 98 MPH or higher (156-of-577).
2018
Combined to go 5-3 with a 3.97 ERA over 13 starts between Springfield (AA), Memphis (AAA) and the Gulf Coast League (R), in a season halted due to right shoulder tendinitis...Opened the season on the Springfield roster and made his final appearance in the Gulf Coast League (2.2 IP, 0 R) on 8/6 before being shut down for the season...Struck out 40 batters over 33.1 innings during the month of May in the Texas and Pacific Coast Leagues...Was one of three Cardinals pitchers to strike out 40 or more batters in the month (Alex Reyes 44, Daniel Ponce de Leon 42)...Led all Cardinals minor league pitchers holding the opposition to a .194 batting average...Posted two double-digit strikeout games, both a season-high 10 batters, with one coming each in Springfield (AA) vs. Tulsa (5/5) and one in Memphis (AAA) vs. Colorado Springs (5/28)...Struck out nine or more batters in each of his first three starts while pitching for Memphis (4/29-5/28)...Scorched left-handed batters in Memphis to a .108 clip (4-37) with one extra base hit (double) and 13 strikeouts...Threw over 100 pitches in five of his 13 starts with a season-high 111 over 6.0 innings at Arkansas (5/11).
2017
Combined to post an 11-3 record with a 2.72 ERA over 23 starts (24 app.) between Palm Beach (A), Springfield (AA) and Memphis (AAA)... Named Florida State League Most Valuable Pitcher, making 16 starts (17 app.) for Palm Beach (A)... Ranked among Cardinals minor league leaders in wins (11, 4th), ERA (2.72, 6th), innings pitched (132.1, 7th), strikeouts (137, 3rd), opponent BA (.215, 2nd) and games started (23, T6th)... Threw a four-hit shutout over 7.0 innings with a season-high 11 strikeouts at Lakeland (5/25) in the second game of a doubleheader. Was one of eight pitchers in the Florida State League to record a shutout... Fired 6.0 no-hit innings of scoreless baseball while walking five batters at Corpus Christi (8/11)... Held his opposition to four hits or less in 11-of-16 starts in the Florida State League... Won his final six decisions in the Florida State League (5/19-7/16)... Made two starts in the Pacific Coast League playoffs and was 0-2 with a 6.30 ERA over 10.0 innings... Rated as the No. 10 prospect in the Cardinals organization by Baseball America. Also rated by the same publication as the No. 10 prospect in the Florida State League following the season.
