Amazin’ trade-deadline, fireballing, bullpen addition Ryan Helsley gets the call for some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: Do you get a kick out of throwing 100 miles per hour?
A: (Laugh) Yeah, it definitely doesn’t get old. I’m very thankful for that, and God’s blessed me tremendously with my health an my talent, and all the glory goes to Him. I was kind of a late bloomer, and just over time gradually gaining velocity, and do it pretty consistently now.
Q: Do you enjoy being an intimidator with your 100 mph fastball?
A: I really haven’t thought about it that way. Obviously, the harder you throw, the harder it is to hit. The less reaction time hitters have, so just trying to take that out with me on the mound and attack, and knowing that it’s gonna be hard for hitters facing that kind of velo, it’s gonna be hard to hit no matter what.
Q: Do you bring that closer mentality to the eighth inning?
A: I always tell people, they ask if it’s any different, I don’t think so. I’m trying to throw up a zero, no matter what inning I’m in. I’m trying to help the team win. No matter what inning I get, whether it’s three outs or just one out or finish an inning whatever the case may be, I’m trying to throw up a zero no matter what inning it is.
Ryan Helsley of the Mets throws a pitch during the ninth inning against the Guardians.
Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Q: Was it easy for you to adapt to being a reliever?
A: I don’t know if I’d say easy. I think it’s just something you learn over time. To learn something like that in the big leagues, you always have guys to ask and learn from that have had a lot of success in the big leagues — I think being able to learn and be willing to learn was a big key.
Q: Do you miss closing?
A: I just like being a part of the team, just getting outs and helping the team anyway I can.
Q: Describe hearing “Hells Bells” when you come in from the bullpen.
A: Yeah, it’s pretty electrifying, honestly, and they turn the lights down and the music gets going and you hear this crowd erupt and you take the field. It’s a pretty surreal and special feeling.
Q: What was the key to winning NL Reliever of the Year last year?
A: Being consistent every day, day in and day out. As a reliever, in the bullpen, it doesn’t really matter what you did yesterday, good or bad, you still have to show up today and be ready to go.
Q: What is it like pitching an “immaculate inning” while with the Cardinals in 2022?
A: That’s pretty special. There’s not too many guys that have done that in Major League Baseball history, so to be a part of such a small group is very cool and something I’ll always look back on. I still watch that inning every now and then, so it’s pretty cool to kind of relive that moment.
Q: A scout once asked you if you were totally consumed with baseball, and you told him that you might go to medical school if it doesn’t work out.
A: I was just being realistic, and wasn’t putting all my eggs in one basket. I was trying to be realistic with myself and have some goals outside of baseball. Schooling was always big for me and my family, and getting a degree was always important. You never know in sports in general with injuries and stuff like that, stuff can just pop up and not be the same after that. But yeah, I think I wanted to go to medical school, and my mom worked in radiology, I thought that was something that I liked and would want to do and something I thought that I would enjoy.
Mets pitcher Ryan Helsley (56) gets out of the ninth inning against the San Francisco Giants Robert Sabo for NY Post
Q: You thought about maybe becoming a doctor for your Cherokee Nation?
A: Yeah, definitely a possibility, could have been for sure. But you never know where life takes you, and wherever you go to school and things like that.
Q: How gratifying is it for you that you’re looked upon as an inspiration to Cherokee Nation?
A: It’s very important to me, it’s a big deal to come from a small rural area and a small town, and to be part of a tribe … just to be someone that not only kids but maybe other people from that area are chasing their dreams know that they’re possible and capable if you just kind of put your mind to it and give it everything you got.
Q: Describe your mound mentality.
A: Just try to be aggressive. … Take the fight to the batter and not beat myself.
Q: What was it like for you being under-recruited?
A: I didn’t really know any better as a kid. Obviously I didn’t have too many offers, and I was throwing like 91 as a senior in high school — which back then was pretty good, and nowadays it’s not so good. But back then it probably would have warranted a little bit more of some recruitment, but I just took the offer that I got (Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Okla.), it was in my hometown, and I was excited and had family close that could watch me make every start. It was an opportunity for me to go play and go get better, and that’s kind of the mentality I had there. The big leagues and professional baseball wasn’t on my mind, but the deeper I got and the progress that I made, you could kind of see that that was a possibility, and just kept working toward that.
Q: Do you agree that you’re an underdog story?
A: I don’t know, I feel like baseball’s hard to say that, ’cause you can find talent anywhere. I think kind of like a Josh Allen’s probably more of an underdog story, a guy who wasn’t recruited in football and is one of the better quarterbacks in the league. He didn’t have any big D-I offers, and it’s harder in football. Basketball to make it if not at a D-I school, but there’s plenty of guys jumped out of high school or JUCOs or smaller Division II or III schools that can make it to the big leagues.
Q: From your Instagram: “If your dream don’t scare you they’re too small.”
A: Yeah, I think it says it all for itself. If you’re not shooting for the moon and the stars, you’re kind of selling yourself short. We only get one life, and you can’t play it safe and you gotta be able to take risks and make some sacrifices, and not live with any regrets.
Ryan Helsley of Cardinals pitches against the Washington Nationals in the ninth inning at Busch Stadium on July 8, 2025 Getty Images
Q: “It takes darkness to be aware of the light.”
A: The ups and downs of life, when you fail you have to be able to learn from it. If there was no failure you wouldn’t know what you need to work on.
Q: “We can’t be who we want by remaining who we are.”
A: If it wasn’t for change in your life, you’re not gonna do it by staying the same. You gotta be willing to, like I said, take risks and make changes and be comfortable being uncomfortable.
Q: “Two things define you: your patience when you have nothing and your attitude when you have everything.”
A: It’s just about being humble and trusting the process. For me, it’s knowing that God has a plan for me and that He’s looking out for me always, and that things are gonna work out.
Q: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.”
Ryan Helsley of the Mets throws a pitch during the 10th inning against the Cleveland Guardians.
Jason Szenes / New York Post
A: Those are all really good quotes, and if you dig into ’em, not just in sports but in life in general, life’s not supposed to be easy, and God never promises that it’s gonna be easy for us, but He does promise that He’s gonna be there with us every step of the way.
Q: “It’s comical seeing people hate when success is around.”
A: I don’t remember that one, maybe that was when I was in college or something. … I think just being around people that want to support you and find the people that are in your corner and want the best for you.
Q: What was it like for you walking down the aisle to “Hells Bells”?
A: Yeah that was pretty crazy. My wife surprised me with that. I think everybody knew but me, so everybody was waiting for a reaction out of me. That was pretty funny.
Q: What is your best single baseball moment?
A: Probably just my debut (with the Cardinals, April 16, 2019, at Milwaukee). That or maybe just getting drafted (Cardinals, fifth round, 2015), just have an opportunity to play baseball, and obviously the debut’s a huge milestone. And my parents got to be there and watch me pitch that day. To be able to play a game for a living and get to do this every day, I’m very blessed and thankful for that.
Q: Describe your two All-Star Game appearances, in 2022 and 2024.
A: I think the first one was just incredible. We had five guys from the Cardinals that year. Just to be on the biggest stage in a city like L.A., and just to experience all that, and be there with some of the game’s best is pretty surreal, and something I’ll always remember.
Q: Worst single baseball moment?
A: Maybe also in my debut I gave up a homer to (Christian) Yelich (laugh). Not a great way to start your big league career off, but I pitched pretty well after that.
Q: What about the ninth inning of Game 1 of the 2022 NL wild-card when the Phillies scored six runs?
A: I went out there and did what I could. I jammed my finger a couple of days before that, and tried to pitch through it and probably shouldn’t have. We all know what a jammed finger feels like, so just trying to throw a baseball and everything based on feel and having that sensation in your fingertips, basically that was gone having a swollen finger. Obviously not what you want to happen in the playoffs, but things happen and you gotta kind of learn from it and move on.
Cardinals catcher Pedro Pages, back, and relief pitcher Ryan Helsley (56) celebrate after a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Saturday, May 10, 2025. AP
Q: The Cardinals were swept by the Nationals in the 2019 NLCS. How hungry are you to pitch in a World Series and win a World Series?
A: I think every player’s dream is to pitch on the biggest stage, and help a team and a city win. That would be awesome, and to be here, a part of this team with so much talent, it’s very cool, especially to be part of a fan base who’s got postseason experience and a city like that, and of that magnitude, it’s exciting.
Q: You would ask your college coach if you could hit BP. Are you a good hitter?
A: I would say so.
Q: You thought about playing football in the fall in college.
A: I was a receiver and safety in high school.
Q: Pretty good player?
A: Yeah, I was solid. We were a smaller high school, so obviously the talent level was not as good as some of the teams across the country, but for our level, my senior class, we were really good.
Q: You were a Cowboys fan growing up?
A: A little bit. My dad more so than me. I’m more like a fantasy football fan. I just enjoy the game of football a whole lot, so fall’s probably my favorite time of the year.
Q: I’ll give you some fantasy football advice when I see you.
A: Yeah, let’s do it. I need it.
Q: You’ve tweeted about Inky Johnson, the former University of Tennessee football player who suffered an injury in a 2006 game that left his right arm paralyzed.
A: Just his whole story is pretty incredible. He stepped up and used everything for fuel and motivation and not a woe-is-me. I think he’s very in tune with his mentality and how to get people to think the right way, and just the motivation that he has to help others and be an inspiration to others.
Cardinals relief pitcher Ryan Helsley (56) reacts after striking out Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suarez (not pictured) to close out the game at Busch Stadium. Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Q: How did Kobe Bryant’s tragic death affect you?
A: He was my favorite basketball player, and my favorite numbers are 8 and 24 because of him. Just watching him and like his mindset, I think there’s something to learn from the game’s best — not only the NBA, but across all sports just how they handle themselves and their mentality on the things they do.
Q: You have two daughters. What is fatherhood like?
A: The best. You don’t really know what you’re missing out until you have it. Not being a dad, you always hear how cool it is and stuff like that, until you truly experience it you don’t really understand or grasp what it’s like to be called Dad and to be depended on, and just to come home to smiling kids every day just excited to see their dad is truly special and something I’m very thankful and blessed with.
Q: Eliana is 3.
A: She’s a fireball, man, she’s sweet and sassy all in one. We look just alike, I think she’s my little twin. She probably acts more like her mom though (laugh).
Q: Tatum is 5 months old. How’s your diaper game?
A: Locked in.
Q: What is her personality like?
A: Oh man, she’s the sweetest little thing ever. She’s always smiling, she’s got the biggest blue eyes, and she’s just so sweet. They’re definitely a lot different, which is crazy ’cause they came from the same two parents, but it’s cool at the same time to see how much different each one of your kids are.
Q: Describe your wife Alex.
A: She’s beautiful, she’s very driven and hard working, and she’s a great mother. She had a lot of goals and aspirations too in college, I think that was one thing that really attracted me to her, she’s an optometrist and she also played sports growing up, so we had a lot of things in common that we wanted to do.
Ryan Helsley Jason Szenes / New York Post
Q: You’re living in a hotel these days?
A: You know it.
Q: What’s that like?
A: Just try to grind and be the best I can be while I’m there.
Q: How does a kid from Tahlequah adapt to New York?
A: One of the biggest cities on Earth, so it’s definitely a challenge, and something that I think’s gonna be good when I kind of get in a groove there.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: Mariano Rivera, ’cause he’s the best closer ever, truly, he’s got something I can pick his brain on about and learn from; Tom Brady; Jesus.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: Any of the “Lord of the Rings” or “The Hobbit.”
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Quesadillas.
Q: What would you tell Mets fans about what kind of pitcher and person they’re getting?
A: Obviously a power pitcher, and throw the ball hard, and try to be aggressive and attack. … Try to be a good teammate, help others around me and build ’em up. This is a long and grinding season, so just try to be someone that’s consistent every day and being the same guy every day no matter what.
Q: What have you learned about the Mets clubhouse?
A: They’ve been great, they’ve welcomed me with open arms and just getting to know these guys on a little bit more on a personal level. This team’s pretty cool and pretty special. The pitching staff’s been great, too.
Q: What drives you?
A: I think just wanting to be the best. Getting the best out of myself. Not cheating myself and not having any regrets later on in life.
Q: You must be proud of coming a long way to where you are now.
A: That’s the coolest thing about baseball. You see guys that have been out of the game for years at a time and pick it back up and make it back to the big leagues, or guys that never pitched at a big D-I like myself, or all of the above, XYZ. I think that’s what makes baseball so great.
