July 15th, 2016 at 6:00 am 
by Harold Uhlman Wes Helsabeck waited patiently from June 8 to June 10 hoping to hear his name called during the 2015 MLB Draft. During that draft 1,215 players were selected by MLB teams. The then 22-year old left-hander wasn’t one of them. He must have wondered how that many names could be called and his name was not.
Helsabeck was born in Winston-Salem in North Carolina and grew up in Rural Hall, also in North Carolina. As a result of his proximity to Atlanta he grew up as an Atlanta Braves fan and had the opportunity to watch his favorite team battle the Dodgers in the 2013 National League Division Series. He attended North Forsyth High School in neighboring Winston-Salem and upon graduation attended Surry Community College in Dobson in his home state. As a sophomore in 2013 he logged 75.2 innings over 17 appearances – including a couple of starts – posting a 4-2 record with an ERA of 2.74.
Knights head coach Kevin Ritsche was hoping to have Helsabeck return to Surry for one more season.
“Wes is a top end of the rotation left-handed pitcher with great command and movement. His command of his pitches during his time at Surry was impressive and he is expected to have the same control again this spring.”
Wes Helsabeck
(Photo courtesy of MiLB.com)
Coach Ritsche was no doubt disappointed that Helsabeck matriculated to Winston-Salem State University for the 2014 season in which he posted a 6-1 record while leading the Rams to an NCAA Tournament appearance in his junior year.
Helsabeck then transferred to the University of North Carolina in Pembroke for his 2015 season. As a key arm in UNCP’s pitching rotation during the season, he posted a 5-1 record along with a 4.82 ERA and one save in his only season in Pembroke. He also struck out 62 batters and won each of his first four starts.
Helsabeck hoped and perhaps had reason to expect his name would be called during the draft that followed his senior year at UNCP. On June 9 – the second day of the 2015 draft – he received a phone call from the Dodgers that no doubt fueled his expectations. The phone call did include a rather strange message.
“(The organization) asked if I cared about how much I got paid and I told them I just wanted an opportunity,” Helsabeck said. “They said, ‘Don’t be surprised if you get another phone call.’”
In the 40th and final round in the 2015 draft the Dodgers selected right-hander Isaac Anderson out of Wichita State University in Kansas, rather than Wes Helsabeck.
His disappointment had hardly set in when he did receive a phone call a few minutes after the draft closed – a second phone call – from the Dodgers offering him a free agent contract. He wasted little time and on June 13 he flew to Camelback Ranch in Phoenix where he signed the contract to officially begin his professional career.
His UNCP coach – Paul O’Neill – was ecstatic that Helsabeck had been given the opportunity to play on. O’Neill said Helsabeck has two things that increases his chances of moving up the professional ranks.
“When you throw from the left side and have a fastball that runs in the 90s, it’s a plus (with the scouts),” O’Neil said. “If he can continue to develop his slider and grow, he gives himself a chance to stay around and keep climbing the ladder.”
When Helsabeck arrived in Ogden, an advanced rookie affiliate of the Dodgers, he was excited when he saw a jersey with his name on it.
“I was obviously excited, but it still took a couple of days for it to set in,” said Helsabeck. “When you walk in the locker room and see your name on the back of a jersey, it’s unreal.”
Helsabeck made his pro debut in that jersey on June 21, pitching one scoreless inning of relief against the Orem Owlz while giving up one hit and striking out a batter. On the season in 2015 he made 21 relief appearances over 31 innings with a 2.32 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. He struck out 28 and walked 19 which elevated his WHIP.
Helsabeck began the 2016 season with the Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League. He quickly attended to one matter and that was the issue of too many free passes. In 11 relief appearances over 23 innings he allowed only 12 hits while striking out 28 and walking eight. He posted an ERA of 2.74 and a WHIP of 0.87. He was credited with three wins.
On July 1 Helsabeck was promoted to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the High-A California League and made his debut in a Quakes uniform on July 2 against the Stockton Ports. Over four relief appearances and eight innings he has struck out 11 while walking two posting a 2.25 ERA along with a 1.13 WHIP.
Wes Helsabeck is grateful for his opportunity to play professional baseball and has no illusions about the difficult road ahead of him as he follows his dream. Also grateful to be a Dodger, he has no concerns about where he might play in the majors as long as he got the opportunity granted to him in that second phone call.
“I believe that’s every kid’s goal growing up playing sports,” Helsabeck said. “You ultimately want to make it to the highest level no matter where you go.”
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Great article Harold, thanks. Makes you wonder how many kids make it into the MiLB this way. My guess is quite a few. (They would be those listed as “signed as amateur free agents on Baseball Reference, etc.). My guess is that there are also quite a few non-drafted kids who prefer to continue playing college ball in hopes of upping to draft appeal in subsequent drafts, although this most certainly could backfire on them.
I have to believe that the Dodgers kind of figured that Wes might go undrafted – although there is certainly an element of risk in this logic: 1) The kid could say no for the aforementioned reason; and 2) The kid certainly realizes that this is the cheap way to go for the MLB clubs – as evidenced by the first phone call regarding his willingness to accept less money to sign. As such, when you get a kid like Wes who clearly isn’t in it for the money (at least not yet), you end up with a kid who wants to play the game for all the right reasons.
It is impossible not to root for a kid like Wes and hope that he not only makes it, but is given a legitimate fair chance to do so against kids who were drafted and paid considerably better in signing pool money.
Best of luck to you Wes!
I also expect the Dodgers felt that Wes would go undrafted so waited it out. They weren’t sure he would not be offered a free agent contract and phoned immediately after the draft. I expect his FA deal would not be very different from the amount offered if drafted in the last rounds. That is, neither all that lucrative.
To Wes it made no difference as long as he got an opportunity. He was an important element in the Loons pen and seems to be picking up where he left off in the Quakes pen.
These are the kind of kids you just have to root for. Along with the youngsters that go into the military to serve, they are part of America’s best as they play for the love of the game and to follow a dream under very trying circumstances.