Panel of Seven Former Relief Pitchers Select
Winners for Seventh-Straight Year
Liam Hendriks of the Oakland Athletics is the winner of the 2020
Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year Award, and
rookie Devin Williams of the Milwaukee Brewers is the winner of the
2020 Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year Award,
Major League Baseball and presenting sponsor The Hartford announced
today. Williams has become the first rookie and the first pitcher
without a save ever to earn either the Hoffman or Rivera Award.
“Honored is an understatement,” said Hendriks. “It’s humbling to
win an award that bears the name of the greatest closer in history.
I’m extremely thankful to my teammates. If they weren’t behind me
on the field, I wouldn’t be half the pitcher I am today. A huge
thank you to the bullpen for sharing years of invaluable advice and
experience with me. Thank you to the coaching staff and the entire
organization for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to
play in the green and gold. To my agency, MVP, for all the work you
do behind the scenes. A huge thank you to Codify for keeping me
ahead of the game. A sincere thank you to the panel of voters. To
be recognized by your greatness is a true honor. Finally, to A’s
fans everywhere, I’ve had the privilege to represent you since I
arrived here five years ago and I thank you from the bottom of my
heart.”
“I am very excited to earn NL Reliever of the Year and have this
prestigious award remain with the Brewers for a third straight
season,” said Williams. “I want to thank the organization –
particularly my manager, coaches and teammates – for all of the
support. I also thank the great Brewers fans, who were watching and
cheering us on from home during this unique season.”
Balloting for the Rivera and Hoffman Awards, which debuted in
the 2014 season, was conducted among a panel of seven all-time
great relievers in order to determine the recipients. Rivera and
Hoffman, both of whom spent their entire careers in the same League
en route to the top of the all-time saves list, were joined as
voters by three fellow Hall of Fame relief pitchers – Dennis
Eckersley, Rollie Fingers and Lee Smith – as well as John Franco
and Billy Wagner. The seven voters ranked the top three AL relief
pitchers and the top three NL relief pitchers based solely on
regular season performance, using a 5-3-1 weighted point
system.
In his 10th Major League season and his fifth with the A’s,
Hendriks posted a 1.78 ERA in his 24 games. In 25.1 innings
pitched, he allowed just 14 hits and three walks (0.67 WHIP) while
striking out 37. The native of Perth, Australia collected a 3-1
record and saved 14 games for the American League West Champion
A’s. In Game Three of Oakland’s Division Series against the Houston
Astros, the 31-year-old Hendriks pitched three scoreless innings
with four strikeouts to earn the win, keeping the A’s season alive.
Hendriks was the runner-up to Aroldis Chapman of the New York
Yankees for the 2019 Rivera Award, in a season in which he set an
A’s record with 122 strikeouts as a reliever, ahead of Hall of
Famers Fingers and Eckersley.
In his first full season in the Majors, the 26-year-old Williams
shined in his 22 appearances for the Brewers, who reached their
third straight Postseason in 2020. The rookie assembled a 0.33 ERA
and fanned 53 batters in his 27.0 innings of work, in which he
surrendered just one earned run on eight hits and nine walks (0.63
WHIP). Among all Major League pitchers with at least 20.0 innings,
the St. Louis native posted MLB’s best ERA, WHIP and opposing
batting average (.090), and he tied for the Major League lead among
relievers in strikeouts and strikeouts per nine innings (17.67).
His changeup emerged as one of the signature pitches in the game.
Williams allowed an earned run in the Brewers’ fourth game of the
season (July 27th) and none thereafter, which included a span of
holding opponents hitless in 31 straight at-bats from August
14th-September 11th. The Brewers have now won three consecutive
Hoffman Awards, as Williams’ teammate Josh Hader was the recipient
in both 2018 and 2019.
The AL relievers who were runners-up were Alex Colomé (2-0, 0.81
ERA, 12 saves, 22.1 IP, 13 H, 8 BB, 16 SO) of the Chicago White Sox
and Brad Hand (2-1, 2.05 ERA, 16 saves, 22.0 IP, 13 H, 4 BB, 29 SO)
of the Cleveland Indians. The NL pitchers who were runners-up were
Trevor Rosenthal (1-0, 1.90 ERA, 11 saves, 23.2 IP, 12 H, 8 BB, 38
SO), who joined the San Diego Padres via a trade from the Kansas
City Royals in August, and Jeremy Jeffress (4-1, 1.54 ERA, 8 saves,
23.1 IP, 10 H, 12 BB, 17 SO) of the Chicago Cubs.
The Rivera and Hoffman Awards replaced MLB’s “Delivery Man of
the Year Award,” which was presented to one winner in all of Major
League Baseball from 2005-2013. These awards continue a
longstanding baseball tradition of honoring the game’s top relief
pitchers. The winners have been:
Year
Rivera AL Reliever of the
Year
Hoffman NL Reliever of the
Year
2014
Greg Holland, Kansas City
Royals
Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta Braves
2015
Andrew Miller, New York
Yankees
Mark Melancon, Pittsburgh
Pirates
2016
Zack Britton, Baltimore
Orioles
Kenley Jansen, Los Angeles
Dodgers
2017
Craig Kimbrel, Boston Red Sox
Kenley Jansen, Los Angeles
Dodgers
2018
Edwin Díaz, Seattle Mariners
Josh Hader, Milwaukee Brewers
2019
Aroldis Chapman, New York
Yankees
Josh Hader, Milwaukee Brewers
2020
Liam Hendriks, Oakland
Athletics
Devin Williams, Milwaukee
Brewers
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201024005006/en/
Michael Teevan or David Hochman, Major League Baseball, (212)
931-7878, mlbpressbox.com, @MLB_PR Jeffrey Welch, The Hartford,
Jeffrey.Welch@thehartford.com, @TheHartford_PR
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