Josh Hader of the Milwaukee Brewers and Aroldis Chapman of the New York Yankees were announced as the winners of the 2019 Reliever of the Year awards on Saturday.
Hader won the Trevor Hoffman National League award while Chapman won the Mariano Rivera American League award.
This is second consecutive win for Hader, joining Craig Kimbrel and Kenley Jansen as two-time recipients.
The winners were determined by a panel of five Hall of Fame relief pitchers – Hoffman, Rivera, Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers and Lee Smith – and two other retired closers, John Franco and Billy Wagner.
“Winning NL Reliever of the Year for the second time is an honor that I don’t take for granted,” the 25-year-old Hader said.
Hader had a 3-5 record and posted 37 saves and a 2.62 ERA in 61 games in 2019. He struck out 138 batters, an average of 16.4 strikeouts per nine innings.
Chapman was 3-2 with a 2.21 ERA and 37 saves in 60 games.
“For me to receive this award is an honor because of how much it means to us relievers,” the 31-year-old Chapman said. “This is my first time winning this award, but what makes it really special is having the opportunity to wear the same uniform and to pitch from the same mound as Mariano Rivera.”
Instituted in 2014, the Rivera and Hoffman Awards replaced MLB’s “Delivery Man of the Year Award,” which was presented to one winner in MLB from 2005-13.
–Field Level Media
