The Baseball Writers' Association of America will start voting on a Relief Pitcher Of The Year award in both the American and National Leagues beginning in 2026. The new award will join other BBWAA year-end honors such as MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, and Manager of the Year. Historically, reliever-specific trophies have included the Rolaids Relief Man Award (1976–2012) and MLB's Rivera and Hoffman Reliever of the Year awards (since 2014). Relief pitching now plays a dominant strategic role, relievers rarely win Cy Young or MVP awards, and a dedicated BBWAA trophy will add historical recognition to relievers' careers.
Jayson Stark was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Relief Pitcher of the Year Award, and Stark outlined the BBWAA's thought process in a piece for The Athletic. Simply put, "relief pitching now dominates this sport - how it's played, how it's managed, who sprays champagne every fall - in a way it never has before," Stark writes, and thus relievers deserve their own dedicated award to reflect their specific role.
The old "Rolaids Relief Man Award" existed from 1976-2012, with winners were determined by a points system rather than a voting system). Since 2014, Major League Baseball has a Reliever Of The Year trophy that has been decided by a panel of former relief pitchers, with the AL version of the award named after Mariano Rivera and the NL version named for Trevor Hoffman.
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