Louis Varland<\/a><\/strong> and Mason Miller<\/a><\/strong> are the inaugural AL and NL relievers of the year, the BBWAA announced Wednesday night at the annual awards show. Varland, of the Toronto Blue Jays<\/a>, received 16 out of a possible 30 first place votes. Miller, of the San Diego Padres<\/a>, was a unanimous selection, receiving all 30 first-place votes.<\/p>\n Louis Varland had an outstanding season for the Blue Jays, posting a 1.38 ERA and 1.013 WHIP over 78 innings. His 85.9% Scoreless Outing Percentage easily surpassed the AL relief average of 71.0%. Varland also struck out 31.6% of the 307 batters he faced and walked 7.5%. That gave him a 24.1 K\u2013BB%, nearly double the AL relief average of 13.1%. He surrendered two home runs all season, holding opposing hitters to a 0.7 HR%. For reference, the AL relief average (excluding position pitchers) was 2.8%.<\/p>\n Varland was also excellent with inherited runners, allowing only 5-of-34 to score. His 14.7 IS% was less than half the 30.5% league average. In traditional closer numbers, Varland converted 35-of-37 save opportunities for a 94.6% success rate. He added 33 Goose Eggs against seven Broken Eggs, good for a 4.7 GE\/BE ratio.<\/p>\n Mason Miller overwhelmed hitters throughout his unanimous Reliever of the Year season with the Padres. He posted a 1.67 ERA and 0.900 WHIP across 70 innings. His 86.4% Scoreless Outing Percentage easily surpassed the 70.7% NL relief average. But Miller’s ability to miss bats separated him even further from the league. He struck out 129 of the 272 batters he faced, an astounding 47.4 K%. His 37.9 K\u2013BB% nearly tripled the 12.8% NL relief average.<\/p>\n Miller was equally dominant in clutch situations. He recorded 40 Goose Eggs against three Broken Eggs for a 13.3 GE\/BE ratio. The NL relief average was 3.0. He also converted 38-of-41 save opportunities (92.7%) and allowed three home runs all season. This gave him a 1.1 HR%, less than half the NL relief average (position pitchers excluded) of 2.7%.<\/p>\n BBWAA writers \u2014 two per AL city and two per NL city \u2014 submitted their votes on the last day of the regular season. Varland took 16 first-place votes along with four for second place, five for third, and one each for fourth and fifth for 146 total points. He was absent from three ballots. Runner-up Cade Smith<\/a><\/strong> of the Cleveland Guardians<\/a> had seven first-place votes, 15 second-place votes, and eight third-place votes. He was the only reliever to appear on all 30 AL ballots. Bryan Baker<\/a><\/strong> of the Tampa Bay Rays<\/a>, with six, and Josh Hader<\/a><\/strong> of the Houston Astros<\/a>, with one, captured the remaining seven first-place votes.<\/p>\n Other AL relievers receiving votes were Aroldis Chapman<\/a><\/strong> of the Boston Red Sox<\/a>, David Bednar<\/a><\/strong> of the New York Yankees<\/a>, Jacob Latz<\/a><\/strong> of the Texas Rangers<\/a>, Brent Hedrick of the Yankees, Garrett Whitlock<\/a><\/strong> of the Red Sox, Grant Taylor<\/a><\/strong> of the Chicago White Sox<\/a>, and Tyler Rogers<\/a><\/strong> and Spencer Miles<\/a><\/strong>, both of the Blue Jays.<\/p>\n In the NL, runner-up Jhoan Duran<\/a><\/strong> of the Philadelphia Phillies<\/a> appeared on 29 of the 30 ballots. He had 24 second-place votes, four third-place votes, and one fourth-place vote for 110 total points. Milwaukee Brewers<\/a> closer Trevor Megill<\/a><\/strong> finished third with 66 points, getting two second-place votes, 11 third-place votes, 11 fourth-place votes, and three fifth-place votes.<\/p>\n Other NL relievers receiving votes were Adrian Morejon<\/a><\/strong> of the Padres, Raisel Iglesias<\/a><\/strong> of the Atlanta Braves<\/a>, Mason Montgomery<\/a><\/strong> of the Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a>, Didier Fuentes<\/a><\/strong> of the Braves, Tanner Scott<\/a><\/strong> of the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a>, Aaron Ashby<\/a><\/strong> of the Brewers, Dylan Lee<\/a><\/strong> of the Braves, Abner Uribe<\/a><\/strong> of the Brewers, and Brandyn Garcia<\/a><\/strong> of the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a>.<\/p>\n The main photo is a mosaic of the following two images:Louis Varland, 2026 AL Reliever of the Year<\/h3>\n
Mason Miller, 2026 NL Reliever of the Year<\/h3>\n
Reliever of the Year Voting<\/h3>\n
Main Photo:<\/h4>\n
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>