The season may not have ended the way Félix Bautista or Devin Williams wanted, but the game’s two most dominant closers were rewarded with their respective leagues’ Reliever of the Year Awards on Wednesday.
Bautista, whose remarkable campaign for the upstart Orioles was cut short by Tommy John surgery, won the Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year Award, while Williams – whose Brewers were eliminated from the National League Wild Card Series – won his second career Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year Award.
Bautista was a key reason the Orioles won their first AL East title since 2014 — and just their second in the last 25 seasons. After an impressive performance as a rookie in 2022, Bautista earned his first All-Star selection in 2022 en route to a 1.48 ERA, 33 saves and 110 strikeouts over 61 innings.
That average of 16.2 strikeouts per nine innings was the third-best mark in AL history among pitchers with at least 50 innings, trailing only Craig Kimbrel (16.4 in 2017) and Aroldis Chapman (16.3 in 2018). .
Bautista’s season ended prematurely when he developed soreness in his right elbow following his August 25 appearance – an appearance that turned out to be the final appearance of his breakout season. The 28-year-old substitute made an unsuccessful comeback attempt in late September before ultimately undergoing Tommy John surgery on October 9.
Although he couldn’t throw, Bautista was able to celebrate with his teammates as Baltimore won the AL East title on September 28.
“He’s one of the main reasons we celebrated,” manager Brandon Hyde said at the time. “A huge reason why we celebrated.”
Although the O’s won 101 games in the regular season (the most since 1979), they were ultimately defeated in the ALDS by the eventual World Series champion Rangers.
Williams’ Brewers experienced a similar postseason exit after winning the NL Central for the second time in three seasons.
Williams, who also took home NL Reliever of the Year honors in 2020, continued to assert himself as the most dominant closer in the major leagues with a masterful ’23 season. The 29-year-old right-hander finished with a 1.53 ERA and 36 saves while striking out 87 batters in 58 2/3 innings in 61 games.
Williams has a 1.75 ERA from 2020, the year he won his first Reliever of the Year Award. This is the best in the majors in that span. Bautista is second with a 1.85 ERA.
Of course, Bautista and Williams take very different approaches on the mound.
Bautista recorded 59 of his 110 strikeouts with his four-seam fastball, which averaged 99.5 mph. The other 51 came over his splinter.
Williams, meanwhile, used his changeup – rarely a reliever’s standard two-strikeout offering – to complete 57 of his 87 strikeouts. The other 30 came on his four-seater, an incline that averages just 94.2 miles per hour.
“It’s something I played around with as a kid to mess with my friends,” Williams told MLB.com in September. “I kind of transferred it to the mound. I started developing it – see what it’s like coming off the hill 10 years old.”
This pitch played a crucial role in Williams becoming one of only six active pitchers to win multiple Reliever of the Year Awards. The others are Kimbrel (three), Josh Hader (three), Edwin Díaz (two), Liam Hendriks (two) and Kenley Jansen (two).
Although Bautista is expected to miss the entire 2024 season while he rehabs from Tommy John surgery, he will look to join this exclusive club when he returns to the stadium in 1925.
“He should be Félix Bautista again in spring training in 2025, so we’ll be in good shape there long-term,” Orioles general manager Mike Elias said in September. “He will get through this. He otherwise has very good health and work ethic. But of course we’ll miss the guy like hell.”