Ryan Helsley, Mets Believe Reliever Is Tipping Pitches, Calls It 'Glaring and Obvious'

The New York Mets and relief pitcher Ryan Helsley believe that his recent struggles can be attributed to the right-hander tipping pitches.

"I'm not trying to sound arrogant or anything, but I feel like my stuff's too good to get hit around as consistently as it has since I've been here," Helsley said, per MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. "We've played mostly teams in the hunt, and a lot of teams nowadays will have guys who look specifically for those things. It's pretty glaring and obvious when I'm doing it."

The 31-year-old has worked with the Mets' coaching staff to determine that his arm position changes when coming set based on whether he's throwing a fastball or slider (via DiComo).

Helsley has been working to correct the arm position issue in between games.

Expectations were high after the Mets acquired him in a July 30 trade with the St. Louis Cardinals, but the start of his tenure with New York hasn't been encouraging.

While Helsley owns a career 2.89 ERA and posted a 3.00 ERA with the Cardinals this season prior to the trade, he holds a 10.38 ERA as a member of the Mets.

After giving up just 12 earned runs over his first 40 appearances this year, he's allowed 10 earned runs across his past seven games.

It's worth noting that opposing batters have had much better plate discipline against Helsley during his budding Mets career. Opponents are swinging at 34.3 percent of his pitches outside the strike zone with New York after swinging at 37.1 percent of his pitches out of the zone in St. Louis (via FanGraphs).

The Mets will be hoping that Helsley can get back on track soon as they look to remain in the American League postseason picture, currently sitting four games back from the Philadelphia Phillies for the AL East lead with a 72-61 record.