Blue Jays’ hit man finishes below his pair in the just concluded

Catcher Adley Rutschman #35 of the Baltimore Orioles talks with pitcher Félix Bautista #74 of the Baltimore Orioles after Bautista struck out the last batter to end the sixth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on June 23, 2022 in Chicago. Bautista was named the top AL reliever on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. PHOTO BY JAMIE SABAU /Getty Images

NEW YORK — Baltimore’s Felix Bautista was a unanimous winner of the Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year Award and Milwaukee’s Devin Williams won the Trevor Hoffman National League honour on Wednesday.

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Bautista, a 28-year-old right-hander, was 8-2 with a 1.48 ERA and 33 saves in 39 chances for the AL East-champion Orioles. He made his final appearance on Aug. 25 and had Tommy John surgery on Oct. 9, which likely will cause him to miss the 2024 season.

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Williams, a 29-year-old right-hander, was 8-3 with a 1.53 ERA and 36 saves in 40 opportunities for the NL Central-champion Brewers. Williams also won the award in 2020 and joined former teammate Josh Hader, Edwin Diaz, Liam Hendriks, Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel as the only multiple winners of the honour, known as the Delivery Man of the Year Award from 2005-13.

Rivera and Hoffman were among the six voters, joined by fellow Hall of Famers Dennis Eckersley and Rollie Fingers along with John Franco and Billy Wagner. Balloting was based on the regular season and used a system in which the first choice got five points, the second three and the third one.

Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase was second in the AL after winning last year and Toronto’s Jordan Romano was third.

Pittsburgh’s David Bednar was second in the NL and San Diego’s Josh Hader third.