Miller and Varland Win First BBWAA Reliever Awards

Mason Miller of the San Diego Padres and Louis Varland of the Toronto Blue Jays have won the inaugural Baseball Writers Association of America Reliever of the Year awards. The BBWAA introduced the honor this year and will present it annually alongside the Cy Young, MVP, Rookie, and Manager awards. This new distinction is separate from the Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman Awards, which are voted on by a panel of former relievers.

Miller’s selection reflects a statistical performance that led the league across multiple categories. The Padres closer posted a 1.67 earned run average while recording 129 strikeouts in 70 innings pitched. He led all Major League pitchers with 3.9 wins above replacement, a full point ahead of Varland. Miller also topped the National League with 38 saves and 57 games finished. His 47.4 percent strikeout rate per batter faced was the highest among qualified relievers, surpassing Mason Montgomery’s 37.7 percent and Andrés Muñoz’s 37.1 percent.

San Diego acquired Miller from the Oakland Athletics at the 2025 trade deadline. The deal required the Padres to send shortstop Leo De Vries and four other players to Oakland. This was Miller’s first full season in San Diego, where he has compiled a 1.45 earned run average over parts of two years. He secured this first major career award after finishing fourth in the 2024 American League Rookie of the Year voting and earning two All-Star selections. He defeated Trevor Megill of the Milwaukee Brewers and Jhoan Duran of the Philadelphia Phillies in the voting.

Varland’s American League victory was driven by overall dominance rather than a high save total. The Blue Jays right-hander posted the best earned run average among qualified relievers at 1.27. His 3.1 wins above replacement led the American League. Varland struck out 87 batters in 78 innings and recorded 35 saves, which placed him fifth in the league. He outperformed Cade Smith of the Cleveland Guardians and Bryan Baker of the Tampa Bay Rays for the honor.

Toronto signed Varland from the Minnesota Twins, his hometown team, during the 2025 trade deadline. He struggled initially after the move, posting a 4.94 earned run average with the Blue Jays following the trade. However, he stabilized during the 2025 postseason and elevated his performance significantly in the 2026 regular season. Varland served as a high-leverage option for Toronto, finishing second in saves of at least four outs with eight. Jacob Latz led the league in that specific metric with 13.

The BBWAA members, with two writers per city in each league, cast their ballots before the start of the postseason. Consequently, the awards reflected only regular-season contributions. Varland earned his first All-Star selection this year and received his first award votes. The organization will continue to issue these awards annually, adding a writers' perspective to the existing league-specific reliever honors.