By Hutchinson CC Sports Information
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (BlueDragonSports.com) – Former Hutchinson Community College Baseball All-American and NJCAA National Player of the Year Michael Helman was called up to the Minnesota Twins late Saturday night.
Playing in his sixth year of professional baseball after being drafted by the Twins in 2018, Helman will make his first trip to the major league level. The Twins are playing at home today in Minneapolis against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Playing at AAA St. Paul this season, the Saints were in Omaha, Helman’s home state – he is a native of Lincoln, Nebraska – on Saturday. After the game, Helman got the call from the big league club that he was being called up. Beginning September 1 each season, major league teams can expand their on-field rosters from 25 to 40.
Helman, who played at Hutchinson in 2016 and 2017, is the first Blue Dragon to be called up to a major league team since Andy Dirks and Thad Weber in 2013.
This season at St. Paul, in 63 games Helman was hitting .283 with 15 doubles, 13 home runs and 43 RBIs this season.
Over his six seasons in the Twins’ minor league system, Helman has played 468 games with 452 hits, 68 home runs and 247 RBIs.
Helman became the 36th Blue Dragon baseball player chosen in the Major League Baseball Draft in June of 2018. The 2017 NJCAA National Player of the Year, was selected by the Twins in the 11th round with the 334th overall selection.
Helman is the first Blue Dragon ever to be drafted by the Twins organization.
Helman’s National Player of the Year season of 2017 produced one of the most extraordinary seasons in not only Blue Dragon Baseball history, but in Jayhawk Conference history. He led the NJCAA in four major offensive categories and broke numerous Hutchinson single-season and career records.
Helman was also the 2017 Jayhawk West Most Valuable Player and first-team all-conference and all-Region VI. As a freshman, Helman was first-team All-Jayhawk West and All-Region VI. He was also named the 2017 NBCA/Rawlings National Gold Glove winner at second base.
Helman’s tremendous season led the 2017 Blue Dragons to the Jayhawk West championship and the program’s highest national ranking ever at No. 3. Hutchinson also had a record-tying 47 victories in a 47-13 season.
Helman broke six Hutchinson single-season records during the 2017 season. He also became the Blue Dragon program leader in five different categories and made some Jayhawk Conference history along the way. He also led the nation in four statistical categories.
Helman hit an NJCAA-leading .487 with a national-leading 111 total hits. He also led the nation with 103 runs scored and 189 total bases. In addition to those four Blue Dragon season records, he set the record for singles with 72 and produced a program-best 25-game hitting streak.
During that streak, Helman was 54 for 97 (.557 batting average) with 48 runs, nine doubles, two triples, 12 home runs and 33 RBIs with 18 stolen bases. He had an on-base percentage of .627 and a slugging percentage of 1.062 in that hitting streak. It tied for the fourth-longest hitting streak in Jayhawk Conference history.
Helman hit safely in 54 of 60 games played with 38 multi-hit games (22 2-hit, 13 3-hit and three 4-hit games) and 19 multi-RBI games (he had five RBIs in a game three times). Helman also reached base in 45 consecutive games. Helman’s batting average was at or better than .500 for 55 consecutive days (41 games), peaking at .538 after a 2 for 3 game against Colby on March 13 at Hobart-Detter Field.
Helman also became the first Jayhawk Conference baseball player ever to reach 200 career hits. His 167 career runs scored were a Jayhawk Conference record. His .452 career batting average is eighth-best in Jayhawk Conference history.
Helman transferred to Texas A&M in 2018 and kept piling up the numbers.
Immediately jumping into the starting lineup at second base, Helman hit .369 with 92 total hits, 17 doubles, two triples, six home runs and 36 RBIs. Helman scored 61 runs and was 12 of 14 in stolen bases.
Helman had a 20-game hitting streak and closed the season with an 11-game hitting streak.
Helman hit .400 (12 for 30) in the SEC Tournament and NCAA Regional.
He fielded .972 overall with eight errors in 283 fielding chances.
