Dugout Chat: Michael Helman making a seamless transition to the SEC

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Logan Foster vividly remembers pitching to Michael Helman when the two squared off against each other growing up in Lincoln, Nebraska. No matter what he did, he just could not get Helman out.

“He would either lay a bunt down and get a hit, or he’d hit a ball off the wall,” Foster recalls. “I’d just be like, ‘Whatever.’ There would be times where I’d try to pitch around him and somehow he would still find a way to get a hit.”

That same feeling of bedeviled dejection that Foster felt years ago as a high school hurler is now being felt by SEC pitchers as Helman has made a seamless transition from junior college prodigy to dynamic Division I second baseman.

Helman, who set a boatload of school and national records by hitting .487 with 17 home runs and 30 stolen bases as a sophomore at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas, has continued to produce at a high level, even with the increase in competition.

“I just try to do whatever I can to help the team,” Helman says in this week’s Dugout Chat. “For me, that’s getting on base any way I can whether that’s a walk, a hit-by-pitch, a little bloop single — whatever I can do to try to get on second base and have Shew or someone else knock me in.”

He has hit a few bloop singles, but most of his hits have been well-earned. With a compact swing and a consistent approach that scatters line drives all over the field, Helman is hitting a team-leading .400 and also paces the team in hits, doubles, runs scored and on-base percentage. His robust .582 slugging percentage trails only Foster for the team lead.

He reminds A&M recruiting coordinator Justin Seely of former A&M shortstop Brodie Greene because of his defensive versatility, competitiveness and penchant for getting the big hit. To Foster, Helman’s level-headedness and intense work ethic bring back memories of second baseman Ryne Birk.

Helman is currently riding a 19-game hitting streak, going hitless only once this season, and has reached base in every one of the Aggies’ 26 games.

“He’s just a very polished hitter,” says sophomore shortstop Braden Shewmake, one of Helman’s roommates. “He’ll hit the ball to his pull-side, he’ll take his backside knocks and he’ll hit for power. He can do a little bit of everything, so he’s a lot of fun to play with.

“He’s got unbelievable speed, so he knows that if he’s not feeling it one day he can lay down a bunt and he’ll get a hit out of that. He’ll work walks, he’s got a great eye at the plate as well. There’s not much the kid can’t do.”

Helman has only struck out 11 times this season in 118 plate appearances, flashing an incredible aptitude at hitting with two strikes. He has the ability to make adjustments not only between at-bats but also during an at-bat, figuring out what a pitcher is doing and making sure he doesn’t get beat with a certain pitch more than once.

“He just manages to get on base,” Seely says. “He’s competitive — he’s not going to do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. He will change within his approach in order to get hits and be competitive with two strikes.”

Competitiveness is one of Helman’s best qualities. He lives with Foster, Shewmake and relief pitcher Nolan Hoffman, and they are always competing. Whether it is playing Fortnite, arguably the most popular video game of 2018, ping pong, or something as simple as eating, they are always trying to see who can win.

“It’s funny seeing him and his roommates together – they’re always going at it,” says sophomore slugger Hunter Coleman. “Everything seems like a competition.”

TexAgs

Michael Helman wasted no time becoming arguably Texas A&M's best hitter, leading the Aggies in several offensive categories so far in 2018.

That competitiveness has helped Helman flourish in the batter’s box at every level. Since he started playing baseball as a child, he has loved the idea of getting on base, and if a pitcher gets him out he focuses even harder on getting a hit the next time up.

“I don’t remember any stats from when I was growing up, I just loved playing the game,” Helman says. “Getting on base is fun, when you get out you’re obviously going to be pissed off about it. Getting on base, trying to steal some bags and touching home plate eventually is the best.”

Says Coleman: “He must’ve never struggled in his life. It seems like everywhere he goes he’s hitting over .400. I’m really glad he’s on our team and you can’t ask for anything better than a guy like that.”

But even with all the athleticism, hitting ability and the gaudy numbers he put up in high school — he hit over .430 in both his junior and senior years — Helman did not receive any Division I offers out of high school.

He didn’t get any offers at all, really.

His only option was ultimately Hutchinson, and that only came about because a former teammate of his at Pius X High, who is a year older than Helman, recommended him to the coaching staff as the recruiting period was winding down.

How could a player of Helman’s caliber fly so far under the radar?

There is no way to be certain, but it could have been because at the time he was a 5-foot-10, 140-pound catcher (“Nobody’s going to recruit a catcher that’s that small,” he quips). Maybe it was because his blue-collar style of play didn’t catch the eye of scouts — as Seely puts it, Helman is “more substance than style.” Or it could have been because he didn’t attack the showcase circuit as a youngster the way some others did.

Whatever the reason, the Aggies are thrilled to have Helman’s bat and glove in their program now.

“He’s a guy you have to watch consistently to appreciate what he does,” Seely explains. “He’s not the guy that you go watch one time and say he’s the best player on the field. He probably takes a little bit of time to appreciate what he does, but when you see it over a course of time it’s pretty obvious what he does is very consistent and he’s a really good player.”

Watch Helman play enough and it becomes crystal clear how talented he is, which is why Seely kept hearing about him when he was dominating at Hutchinson. When the Aggies were recruiting Hoffman, also a Hutchinson product, the Blue Dragon coaching staff couldn’t stop talking about Helman’s potential.

When Foster heard the Aggies were looking at possibly offering Helman a spot, he heaped praise on the guy whom he became buddies with when they met as middle schoolers attending a University of Nebraska camp. Ironically, in charge of the catcher’s station was current Aggie volunteer assistant Jeff Christy.

Their first interaction came when, with about five minutes left in camp, Christy told the catchers that they were going to work on plays at the plate. The drill involved one player hitting another with a tackling dummy as he tried to hold onto the ball.

“I just absolutely lit Mike up. No holding back, I just threw it as hard as I could,” Foster says with a laugh. “We were supposed to just hit them with it, but I threw it at him and it just lit him up. It was probably one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. That’s one of the first times where we really started hanging out.”

Helman’s path through the junior college circuit only helped him. It made him more driven and instilled in him a passion to move up the ladder to a Division I school.

“It kind of made me feel like I just needed to have a drive to be better,” Helman says. “It honestly just fueled my hope that I was eventually going to be somewhere like Texas A&M and that I knew I could play at a high level.”

He ingratiated himself superbly in his new locker room, as his attitude was an instant hit with his A&M teammates. His hitting prowess probably didn’t hurt the transition, either.

“He’s very easygoing,” Shewmake says. “He’s a jokester, so everybody loved him right when he got here. It hasn’t been too much of an adjustment for him, I don’t think, coming into a new locker room, but coming into the Division I level he’s been unreal. He’s so even-keel about everything he does. If something bad happens to him he’s mad about it for two minutes and then it’s gone.”

Helman will look to continue his hot hitting as the Aggies (20-6, 2-4 SEC) travel to Georgia to take on the Bulldogs, who have enjoyed a terrific start to SEC play. If history is any indication Helman, who has grown to a solid 6-1, 190-pound frame, will probably not stop hitting anytime soon.

“I’ve been watching Michael play for a long time,” says Hoffman, who played with Helman for two seasons at Hutchinson. “He’s one of the best baseball players I’ve ever seen.”