Michael James Helman (born May 23, 1996) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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for the Texas Rangers of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

Amateur career

Helman attended Pius X High School in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

where he played

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. After graduating in 2015, he played two years of

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

Hutchinson Community College Hutchinson Community College (HutchCC or HCC) is a Public college, public community college in Hutchinson, Kansas. It serves nearly 5,000 credit students every semester. History The college was established in the spring of 1928 as Hutchinson Ju ...

. As a sophomore in 2017, he batted .487 with 111 hits, 17 home runs, and 73 RBIs over sixty games and was named National Junior College Player of the Year. He transferred to

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

for the 2018 season where he started 62 games and hit .369 with six home runs, 36 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases.

Professional career

Minnesota Twins

Helman was drafted by the

in the 11th round, with the 334th overall selection, of the

2018 Major League Baseball draft The 2018 Major League Baseball draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In addition, compensation pi ...

. He signed with the Twins and split his first professional season between the rookie–level

Elizabethton Twins The Elizabethton Twins were a Minor League Baseball team of the Appalachian League and a Rookie-level affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They were located in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and were named for their Major League Baseball, major league aff ...

and Single–A

Cedar Rapids Kernels The Cedar Rapids Kernels are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and play their home games at Veterans Memorial Stadium (Cedar Rapids), Veter ...

, batting .361 with four home runs over 39 games between the two teams. He spent the 2019 season with the High–A

Fort Myers Miracle The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Fort Myers, Florida, and play their home games at the Lee County Sports Complex at ...

where he hit .197 over 82 games, missing the end of the season after breaking his arm. Helman did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Helman returned to Cedar Rapids for the 2021 season and batted .246 with 19 home runs, 57 RBI, and 21 stolen bases over 111 games. He opened the 2022 season with the Double–A

Wichita Wind Surge The Wichita Wind Surge are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Wichita, Kansas, and began play in 2021 at Equity Bank Park. The Wind Surge were supposed to be ...

before he was promoted to the Triple–A

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They previ ...

. Over 135 games between the two clubs, he

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.258/.337/.423 with twenty home runs, sixty RBI, and forty stolen bases. Helman played only 38 games in 2023 due to injury, playing with Fort Myers, Wichita, and St. Paul, batting .302 with seven home runs and forty RBI. Helman began the 2024 campaign with St. Paul, slashing .283/.367/.508 with 13 home runs, 43 RBI, and 10 stolen bases. On September 1, 2024, Helman was selected to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. In 9 games for Minnesota, he went 3-for-10 (.300).

St. Louis Cardinals

On February 6, 2025, Helman was traded to the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

in exchange for cash considerations. He was optioned to the Triple-A

Memphis Redbirds The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in Memphis, Tennessee, and are named for their Major League Baseball affiliate. The Redbird ...

to begin the season. In 18 appearances for Memphis, Helman slashed .185/.260/.292 with one home run, five RBI, and one stolen bases. On May 14, 2025, Helman was claimed off waivers by the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

. Helman did not appear for the organization before he was designated for assignment on May 16.

Texas Rangers

On May 19, 2025, Helman was claimed off waivers by the Texas Rangers.

Personal life

Helman's cousin, Joel Makovicka, played in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

References

External links

Texas A&M Aggies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helman, Michael 1996 births Living people Baseball players from Nebraska Cedar Rapids Kernels players Elizabethton Twins players Fort Myers Mighty Mussels players Fort Myers Miracle players Hutchinson Community College alumni Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball outfielders Memphis Redbirds players Minnesota Twins players Round Rock Express players Scottsdale Scorpions players Sportspeople from Lincoln, Nebraska St. Paul Saints players Texas A&M Aggies baseball players Texas Rangers players Tigres del Licey players Wichita Wind Surge players