Louis Varland, Mason Miller Named BBWAA Relievers Of The Year

In addition to tonight’s Cy Young announcements, the Baseball Writers Association of America announced the results of their inaugural Reliever of the Year voting. Toronto’s Louis Varland and San Diego’s Mason Miller are the first honorees in the respective leagues. Varland got the edge over Cleveland’s Cade Smith and Tampa Bay’s Bryan Baker in the American League. Acquired from Minnesota at the 2025 deadline, Varland opened the season in a setup role. Jeff Hoffman’s early struggles opened the ninth inning at the end of April. Varland took the job and never looked back, going 35-37 in save chances. He fired 78 innings with a sterling 1.27 earned run average while striking out a career-high 31.6% of opposing hitters. The 28-year-old Varland tied Aroldis Chapman and David Bednar for third in the AL in saves, trailing the aforementioned Smith and Baker (41 apiece). He had the lowest ERA among AL relievers with 50+ innings pitched, ranked sixth in strikeout rate, and fifth in overall strikeouts. It was a tightly contested race. Baker and Smith not only had gaudier save totals, they were similarly dominant on a batter for batter basis. All three finalists had a sub-2.00 earned run average. Smith’s 36.3% strikeout rate was second-best in the American League (behind Andrés Muñoz), while his 1.95 ERA ranked eighth. Baker was second in ERA at 1.44 but outside the top 25 with a strong but not overwhelming 25.8% strikeout percentage. Varland received 16 first-place votes but was also off the ballot entirely for three voters. Smith only had seven first-place votes but placed no lower than third for any individual voter. Baker received six first-place votes, while one voter had Josh Hader atop their ballot. Hader placed fifth overall, one spot behind Chapman. Others who received votes include Bednar, Jacob Latz, Brent Headrick, Garrett Whitlock, Grant Taylor, Spencer Miles and Tyler Rogers. Voters had a much easier time sorting out the National League. Miller was a unanimous winner. Philadelphia’s Jhoan Duran received 24 second-place votes to coast to the runner-up finish, while Milwaukee’s Trevor Megill landed in third place. Miller had one of the most dominant relief seasons in history. He fired 70 innings of 1.67 ERA ball, going 38-41 in save opportunities. Miller took an 0.91 ERA into the All-Star Break and struck out an otherworldly 47.4% of opposing hitters. No other pitcher who threw at least 10 innings recorded a strikeout rate north of 40%. Opposing hitters made contact just 57% of the time they swung at a Miller offering. Chicago’s Jacob Webb had a slightly higher whiff rate than Miller on pitches within the strike zone, but hitters didn’t stand a chance if he got them to expand. They made contact less than 40% of the time that they offered at a Miller pitch off the plate. Miller led NL relievers (min. 50 innings) in ERA and tied the Cardinals’ Riley O’Brien for the league lead in saves. Duran was second in ERA (1.82), fourth in saves (33), and third in strikeout rate (35.6%). Megill went 30-33 in save chances with a 2.63 ERA across 61 2/3 innings. He allowed nine runs in his first 11 innings of the season, which essentially tanked any chance of winning the award, but rebounded with a 1.78 ERA and 29% strikeout rate from May 1 onward. Adrian Morejon and Raisel Iglesias rounded out the top five. The rest of the ballot went as follows: Mason Montgomery, Didier Fuentes, Tanner Scott, Aaron Ashby, Dylan Lee, Brandyn Garcia, Abner Uribe and Emilio Pagán. In addition to the BBWAA awards, Major League Baseball announced its own awards and the All-MLB teams this evening. MVP favorites Yordan Alvarez and Pete Crow-Armstrong respectively won each league’s Hank Aaron Award. Alvarez, who only played 48 games in 2025 because of a broken hand, also won the AL Comeback Player of the Year. Zack Wheeler was the NL Comeback Player of the Year in his return from thoracic outlet surgery. Brent Maguire of MLB.com recaps the All-MLB teams. Respective images courtesy of Ken Blaze/Denis Poroy, Imagn Images.