“Keep him stretched out for the purpose of what he did for us,” Maddux said. “He competed very well. Good live arm. One of the better fastballs you’ll see in the game. If we didn’t have Jordan Hicks on our team, we’d be talking about Ryan Helsley’s fastball.”
Helsley, 24, had seven strikeouts and no walks in 6 1/3 innings in the majors. Both of the runs he allowed came on home runs. All three of his appearances last at least two innings — the role they’d like to groom him for. Only two pitchers in the majors, teammate Hicks and Miami’s Tayron Guerrero, have thrown pitches faster than the 101.