Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals Flamethrower Wins NL Reliever Of The Year After Record-Breaking Season

The St. Louis hurler is one of the best to do it

Nate Hagerty

Sep 22, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Ryan Helsley (56) pitches against the Cleveland Guardians during the ninth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Sep 22, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Ryan Helsley (56) pitches against the Cleveland Guardians during the ninth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images / Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
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The St. Louis Cardinals 2024 season might not have gone according to plan but at least the bullpen consistently held its own throughout the year.

The three-headed monster of Ryan Fernandez, JoJo Romero and Andrew Kittredge helped the Cardinals bullpen rank seventh in the league with a 3.64 ERA this season.

Perhaps the most vital piece of the Cardinals' relief core in 2024 has won a prestigious award after breaking records and having a career year.

"(Cardinals) closer Ryan Helsley won the Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year award," MLB.com's John Denton reported Thursday night. "Helsley converted an MLB-best 49 saves and needed just 53 chances to do so for MLB’s best save percentage (92.5 percent) and the NL’s most games closed (62)."

Helsley logged an incredible 7-4 record with a 2.04 ERA, 79-to-23 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .210 batting average against and a 1.10 WHIP while setting the franchise season-season saves record this year for the Cardinals.

Not only did Helsley win the NL Reliever of the Year award but he was also selected for the All-MLB First Team for the first time in his career.

The 30-year-old was remarkable this season for the Cardinals after it was determined that Helsley wouldn't pitch more than three outs all year. In 2023, the young fireballer frequently pitched more than one inning and his stats prove that a lesser workload equates to better results.

It'll be interesting to see what happens to Helsley this winter. He's at the top of the list of Cardinals players who could be traded as the front office looks to reduce payroll and reset.

More MLB: Cardinals $75 Million Star Reportedly 'On Board' With Reset, Willing To Mentor Youth

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Nate Hagerty
NATE HAGERTY

Nate Hagerty joined “Inside The Cardinals” as a content creator to spread knowledge about his favorite childhood team. A hometown native of Boston, Hagerty chose at an early age of six years old to follow the St. Louis Cardinals. The miraculous season of 04’ for the Red Sox did not deter Hagerty from rooting against his hometown team, nor did it in 2013 against the Red Birds. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu 

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