The first BBWAA Reliever of the Year awards went to two closers who spent the season overpowering hitters in different ways.
Mason Miller of the Padres took the National League honor, while Louis Varland of the Blue Jays won in the American League. The Baseball Writers Association of America created the award this year, and it will now be handed out annually alongside Rookies and Managers of the Year, Cy Young and MVP awards.
The new honor is separate from the Mariano Rivera Award and Trevor Hoffman Award, which still recognize the top relievers in the AL and NL, respectively. Those awards replaced the Delivery Man of the Year Award in 2015 and are decided by a panel of former relievers that includes Rivera and Hoffman.
This BBWAA award, by contrast, is voted on by BBWAA members, with two voters from each MLB city in each league. The ballots were cast before the playoffs, so only regular-season work counted.
Miller was the runaway choice in the National League. He put together a 1.67 ERA with 129 strikeouts in just 70 innings, and he led all pitchers with 3.9 WAR. He also paced the NL in saves with 38 and games finished with 57.
His strikeout rate separated him from the pack. Among qualified relievers, Miller’s 47.4% strikeout rate sat far ahead of the rest of the field, with Mason Montgomery next at 37.7%, followed by Andrés Muñoz at 37.1%, Cade Smith at 36.3% and Jhoan Duran at 35.6%.
The voting showed just how strong his season was. Miller finished with 30 first-place votes and 210 points, well ahead of Jhoan Duran, Trevor Megill, Adrián Morejón and the rest of the field.
It was the first full season Miller spent with San Diego after the Padres acquired him from the Athletics at the 2025 trade deadline in a six-player deal that sent shortstop Leo De Vries, one of baseball’s top prospects, to Oakland. The price was steep, but Miller has made it look justified. He owns a 1.45 ERA in parts of two seasons with the Padres.
This is the first major award of Miller’s career. He finished fourth in 2024 AL Rookie of the Year voting and has been selected to two All-Star Games, in 2024 and 2026, but had not previously picked up Cy Young or MVP votes before this season.
Varland’s path to the American League award had a different shape, but the end result was the same: dominance. His 1.27 ERA led qualified relievers, and his 3.1 WAR topped the AL. He struck out 87 batters in 78 innings and ranked fifth with 35 saves, winning on overall impact rather than save totals.
His workload stood out, too. Varland finished second in saves of at least four outs during the regular season with eight, behind Jacob Latz’s 13.
The Blue Jays got Varland from the Twins, his hometown team, at the 2025 trade deadline. He struggled at first in Toronto, posting a 4.94 ERA after the deal, but he settled in during the postseason and then took another step forward in 2026. He became one of the game’s most reliable relievers and handled a heavy load for the Blue Jays.
Varland made his first All-Star team this season and also received award votes for the first time. He beat out Guardians reliever Cade Smith and Rays reliever Bryan Baker for the honor.
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