Major League Baseball (MLB) annually honors its best relief pitchers in the American League (AL) and National League (NL) with the Mariano Rivera AL Reliever of the Year Award and Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year Award, respectively. The awards are named after former relievers Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman, who played their entire careers in the respective leagues. First issued in 2014, the awards replaced the Delivery Man of the Year Award, which had been presented since 2005.
The Reliever of the Year Awards are based on the votes of a panel of retired relievers. Each voter selects three pitchers for each league based solely on their performance in the regular season; a 5-3-1 weighted point system is used to determine the winner. At its inception in 2014, the panel consisted of the top five relievers in career saves at the time—Rivera, Hoffman, Lee Smith, John Franco, and Billy Wagner—and the four living relief pitchers who were in the Hall of Fame: Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, and Bruce Sutter.
The Reliever of the Year Award winners had all been closers until 2018, when Josh Hader of the Milwaukee Brewers won as a setup man; he later won the NL title in 2019 and 2021 as a closer. The inaugural All-MLB teams named both of the award winners in 2019. In 2020, the Brewers' Devin Williams became the first rookie and the first reliever with no saves to win the award in either league.
Since 2017, MLB has also issued a Reliever of the Month Award.
Winners Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year
YearPlayerTeamSVERAWHIPKIPRef2014Atlanta Braves471.610.9195 2015Pittsburgh Pirates512.230.9362 2016Los Angeles Dodgers471.830.67104 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers411.320.75109 2018Milwaukee Brewers122.430.81143 2019 Milwaukee Brewers372.620.81138 2020Milwaukee Brewers00.330.6353272021 Milwaukee Brewers341.230.84102 2022 New York Mets321.310.839118622023 Milwaukee Brewers361.530.92087 2024 St. Louis Cardinals492.041.10079 2025 New York Mets281.630.87498
Mariano Rivera AL Reliever of the Year
YearPlayerTeamSVERAWHIPKIPRef2014Kansas City Royals461.440.9190 2015New York Yankees362.040.86100 2016Baltimore Orioles470.540.8474672017 Boston Red Sox351.430.68126692018Seattle Mariners571.960.79124 2019New York Yankees372.211.1185572020Oakland Athletics141.780.6737 2021 Chicago White Sox382.540.73113712022Cleveland Guardians421.360.72977 2023 Baltimore Orioles331.480.918110612024 Cleveland Guardians470.610.66066 2025 Boston Red Sox321.170.70185
See also
Sporting News Relief Pitcher of the Year Award (2013–present; one in each league) Sporting News Reliever of the Year Award (1960–2010; one in each league) Rolaids Relief Man Award (1976–2012; one in each league) Baseball awards List of MLB awards
References
External links MLB Reliever of the Year Award at Baseball Almanac