Ryan Helsley is just what the Orioles worn out bullpen needs

In the month of April, the Baltimore Orioles had one of the best bullpens in all of baseball. Ever since the calendar flipped over in May, they've had one of the worst bullpens in baseball. This downturn lines up perfectly with Ryan Helsley going on the IL. With Helsley gone, the Orioles have had to push everyone in their pen up a level of responsibility and patch together high-leverage innings using arms that are just not ready for that kind of responsibility. Fortunately for the Orioles, Helsley will begin a rehab assignment today and should return to the Orioles' closer role in the next week or so.

Helsley's return will have a cascading positive effect on the rest of the bullpen. Rico Garcia has been great filling in for Helsley while he's been out, and honestly deserves a lot of credit for basically being a one-man bullpen for stretches, but being able to move Garcia out of the closer role and use him in a firefighter role where he gets deployed whenever the Orioles most need outs, no matter what inning it is, is going to be huge for this bullpen.

The Orioles bullpen makes a lot more sense with Ryan Helsley in the ninth inning

Over the past few weeks, the need for a second really good reliever in the Orioles' bullpen who could fulfill this role has been obvious. The Orioles have tried to make Anthony Nunez into this pitcher, but he has really struggled over the last month, especially in high-leverage situations. The Orioles have blown at least four winnable games trying to get by with Anthony Nunez against the heart of the opposing order. He's just not ready for that kind of responsibility.

Yenner Cano seems like a pitcher who could do that, but for whatever reason, the Orioles have consistently leaned away from using him in those kinds of situations.

With Garcia freed from the closer position, Orioles fans should expect to see him at any given moment. He might come in in the sixth inning with the bases loaded and no outs, he might come in in the seventh inning if the other team's three best hitters are due up, or he might just lock down the eighth inning like a typical setup man. The flexibility this provides is going to take a load off of so many overtasked relievers in the Orioles bullpen.

It almost goes without saying that having Hesley back for the ninth will be great, too. Before going down with an injury, Helsley was 7/7 on save attempts and was putting up elite strikeout numbers. Hopefully, the Orioles can play well this week, so by the time Helsley returns, he's pitching in meaningful games in Baltimore.

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