NEW YORK — Baltimore‘s Félix Bautista was a unanimous winner of the Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year Award, and Milwaukee‘s Devin Williams won the Trevor Hoffman National League honor Wednesday.
Bautista, 28, was 8-2 with a 1.48 ERA and 33 saves in 39 chances for the AL East champion Orioles. The right-hander made his final appearance Aug. 25 and had Tommy John surgery Oct. 9, which likely will cause him to miss the 2024 season.
Williams, 29, was 8-3 with a 1.53 ERA and 36 saves in 40 opportunities for the NL Central champion Brewers. The right-hander also won the award in 2020 and joined former teammate Josh Hader, Edwin Díaz, Liam Hendriks, Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel as the only multiple winners of the honor, known as the Delivery Man of the Year Award from 2005 to ’13.
Rivera and Hoffman were among the six voters, joined by fellow Hall of Famers Dennis Eckersley and Rollie Fingers along with John Franco and Billy Wagner. Balloting was based on the regular season and used a system in which the first choice got five points, the second got three and the third got one.
Cleveland‘s Emmanuel Clase was second in the AL after winning last year, and Toronto‘s Jordan Romano was third.
Pittsburgh‘s David Bednar was second in the NL, and San Diego‘s Josh Hader was third.