Box-Toppers’ top-ranked relievers—Bautista, Williams—win Reliever of Year Awards

Box-Toppers’ top-ranked relief pitchers in both leagues were named 2023 Relievers of the Year by Major League Baseball.

Reliever of the Year

Box-Toppers’ top-ranked relief pitchers in both leagues were named Relievers of the Year by Major League Baseball. Felix Bautista of the Orioles won the AL award and Devin Williams of the Brewers won the NL award. Here are the three relief pitchers in each league with the most Box-Toppers points (BTP) in 2023.

AL Reliever of the Year  
Player Team BTP
1 Felix Bautista Orioles 11.0
2 Nick Pivetta Red Sox 9.0
3 Michael King Yankees 9.0
NL Reliever of the Year  
Player Team BTP
1 Devin Williams Brewers 8.0
2 David Bednar Pirates  7.0
3 Alexis Diaz Reds 7.0
BTP—Box-Toppers points

Felix Bautista of the Orioles, who led American League relievers with 11.0 Box-Toppers points, won the AL award and Devin Williams of the Brewers, who led National League relievers with 8.0 Box-Toppers points, won the NL award.

Felix Bautista is AL Reliever of the Year

Bautista’s 11.0 Box-Toppers points was 38th among all players and 18th among all AL pitchers. It was the highest Box-Toppers point total by a relief pitcher since 2019 when Josh Hader of the Brewers had 17.7 Box-Toppers points to lead all relievers, a total that put him eighth overall and third among all NL pitchers.

Bautista spent part of July and August on Box-Toppers’ overall top 10 list. He made his final appearance of the season Aug. 25, when his 11.0 points was still ninth among all AL pitchers. He was placed on the injured list Aug. 26 with an ulnar collateral ligament injury which required Tommy John surgery, a procedure which often requires a year of recovery and rehab, making him likely unavailable to return in 2024.

Bautista had 33 saves in 2023, third among AL pitchers. But he also won eight games. Emmanuel Clase of the Guardians, who led AL relievers with 44 saves, had 6.0 Box-Toppers points, fourth among AL closers.

Unconventional relievers round out top 3 in AL

Trailing Bautista among AL relievers in 2023 Box-Toppers points are Nick Pivetta of the Red Sox and Michael King of the Yankees, both of whom had 9.0 Box-Toppers points, more than any NL reliever.

Pivetta is a little unconventional in his Box-Toppers ranking among AL relievers. Notably, he earned only one save, the standard statistic by which many evaluate and rank relievers. He earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors seven times in 2023, three times as a middle reliever, three times as a starting pitcher and once as a closing pitcher. He ranks among both relievers and starting pitchers since he earned more than 25 percent of his Player of the Game honors at both positions.

Perhaps Pivetta’s best performance all year was as a middle reliever acting as a de facto starting pitcher. On July 17, he was Box-Toppers Player of the Game in the 7-0 win over the Athletics, coming on in relief in the third inning (6IP 0H 0R 2BB 13K W). His Box-Toppers game score of +17.0 was highest of the day, making him Box-Toppers overall Player of the Day. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point as Player of the Game and 1.0 bonus point as Player of the Day.

King is also a little unconventional among relievers, though he earned six saves in 2023, tied for 20th among AL pitchers. King earned 9.0 Box-Toppers points by being Box-Toppers Player of the Game nine times—three as a middle reliever, three as a closer and his final three as a starting pitcher from Aug. 29 to the end of the season.

Devin Williams is NL Reliever of the Year

Williams led NL closing pitchers with 8.0 Box-Toppers points, 76th among all players and 26th among NL pitchers.

Williams had 36 saves in 2023, fourth among NL closers. David Bednar of the Pirates, who was tied for the lead in saves among NL pitchers with 39, had 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, second among NL closers. (Camilo Doval of the Giants also had 39 saves. His 5.0 Box-Toppers points was sixth among NL closers.)

Alexis Diaz of the Reds ranked third on Box-Toppers’ NL relievers ballot, also with 7.0 Box-Toppers points. Through Bednar and Diaz both earned 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, Bednar ranks higher because he had more 2022 points—6.0 vs. 3.0. Diaz had 37 saves, third among NL pitchers.

All of Box-Toppers’ top three NL relievers were conventional closers, unlike two of Box-Toppers’ top three AL relievers, with all three among the top four NL saves leaders.

Process of choosing Relievers of the Year

Established in 2014, MLB’s Reliever of the Year Awards are voted by a panel of retired relievers. The Sporting News also awards top relievers annually in each league and also chose Bautista and Williams for its Relief Pitcher of the Year Awards for 2023.

Internet writers also award Bautista, Williams

In separate voting, the Internet Baseball Writers of America (IBWAA), of which Box-Toppers is a voting member, also voted Bautista and Williams as Relievers of the Year.

Here are those election results:

American League

  • 1st Place: Felix Bautista, Orioles, 193 points

  • 2nd Place: Emmanuel Clase, Guardians, 87 points

  • 3rd Place: Jordan Romano, Blue Jays, 45 points (Romano had 4.0 Box-Toppers points, eighth among AL closers. His 36 saves was second among AL pitchers.)

National League

  • 1st Place: Devin Williams, Brewers, 120 points

  • 2nd Place: David Bednar, Pirates, 99 points

  • 3rd Place: Josh Hader, Padres, 54 points (Hader had 4.0 Box-Toppers points, eighth among NL closers. His 33 saves was fifth among NL pitchers.)

IBWAA members include more than 800 baseball writers and content creators. Voting for full-season awards takes place prior to the start of the postseason each year, with selections announced in November.

About Box-Toppers

Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

For additional updates, follow Box-Toppers on Twitter.

Related