New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Ryan Helsley (56) follows through on a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the ninth inning at Citi Field. Brad Penner-Imagn Images

New York Mets Reliever Delivers Record-Breaking Heat Prior to Meltdown

Originally posted on Fastball on SI | By Sam Connon | Last updated Aug 10, 2025 11:54 AM ET

The New York Mets had already let their lead slip away in the seventh inning of Saturday's showdown with the Milwaukee Brewers, but they needed to prevent things from going from bad to worse.

Enter Ryan Helsley, who took over from Ryne Stanek after a game-tying RBI groundout by Sal Frelick. That brought Isaac Collins to the plate with two outs and a man on third, keeping the threat alive as one of the Mets' premier trade deadline additions tried to snuff it out.

Helsley came out of the gates with his signature gas, ultimately breaking records before the at-bat was through.

The 31-year-old right-hander got Collins to whiff at a 101.1 mile-per-hour fastball down and in before inducing a pair of foul balls with even more triple-digit heat. On the fourth pitch of the showdown, Helsley's fastball clocked in at 103.8 miles per hour – faster than any other pitch by a Mets player in the Statcast era, per Codify Baseball.

Unfortunately for Helsley and the Mets, Collins stayed alive by fouling that pitch away, and it didn't take long for things to take a turn for the worse.

Ryan Helsley threw the fastest pitch in New York Mets history last night and here's how he did it. pic.twitter.com/Vxzev74KAs
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) August 10, 2025

Helsley tried to get Collins to chase a 103.1 mile-per-hour fastball above the zone, but he put it in play and notched an RBI single to left after third baseman Ronny Mauricio failed to corral the ground ball. The righty appeared to escape the jam by forcing William Contreras into a flyout, but the home plate umpire waved it off and called a pitch clock violation instead.

Contreras proceeded to turn on a high, 100.1 mile-per-hour fastball and crush it 399 feet to left-center for a two-run homer. The Brewers went up 7-4, which is exactly where the score would stay.

Helsley was a two-time All-Star closer for the St. Louis Cardinals before the Mets scooped him up late last month. He went 19-9 with a 1.83 ERA, 0.954 WHIP, 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings, 82 saves and a 7.2 WAR between 2022 and 2024, before going 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA, 1.389 WHIP, 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings, 21 saves and a 1.1 WAR to open 2025.

Since joining the Mets, Helsley is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings and a -0.4 WAR. New York has lost all four games in which Helsley has taken the mound.

The Mets were supposed to have one of the best bullpens in baseball after adding Helsley, Tyler Rogers and Gregory Soto to Edwin Díaz, Reed Garrett and others at the deadline. Instead, they have lost six in a row and nine of their last 10.

New York will look to break out of that funk and avoid a sweep against Milwaukee on Sunday. First pitch from American Family Field is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. ET.

This article first appeared on Fastball on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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