Josh Hader of the Brewers and Edwin Diaz of the Mariners are winners of this year’s reliever of the year awards as voted on by the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA).
Box-Toppers Relievers of the Year ballot
Here are Box-Toppers' ballot selections for the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) 2018 Reliever of the Year awards. The ballot required voters to pick the top three relief pitchers in each league.Players are shown with their team and their Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2018.
| AL Reliever of the Year | |||
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Blake Treinen | Athletics | 10.0 |
| 2 | Edwin Diaz | Mariners | 9.0 |
| 3 | Lou Trivino | Athletics | 8.0 |
| NL Reliever of the Year | |||
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Josh Hader | Brewers | 11.7 |
| 2 | Wade Davis | Rockies | 7.0 |
| 3 | Felipe Vazquez | Pirates | 6.0 |
Hader wins the 2018 IBWAA Hoyt Wilhelm National League Relief Pitcher of the Year Award and Diaz is selected as the 2018 IBWAA Rollie Fingers American League Relief Pitcher of the Year. The awards were announced Sunday.
This year, I became a member of the IBWAA and, using the Box-Toppers statistics shared here, I voted for Hader and Blake Treinen of the Athletics as relievers of the year. Treinen finished second in IBWAA voting and Diaz was listed in second place on my ballot for AL relievers.
The IBWAA relief pitcher awards were established in 2010. Election results are as follows:
NL relief pitcher
1st—Josh Hader, Milwaukee Brewers – 326 points
2nd—Kenley Jansen, Los Angeles Dodgers – 162
3rd—Jeremy Jeffress, Milwaukee Brewers – 148
AL relief pitcher
1st—Edwin Diaz, Seattle Mariners – 465 points
2nd—Blake Treinen, Oakland Athletics – 458
3rd—Craig Kimbrel, Boston Red Sox – 128
While Hader was the runaway winner among NL relievers, the vote between the top two in the AL was much closer.
In the NL, Hader is the only one of the three top finishers that Box-Toppers included on its ballot. Jansen had 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2018, 20th among NL closers. Jeffress also had 2.0 Box-Toppers points, 25th among NL closers.
Box-Toppers chose Wade Davis of the Rockies as second place NL closer with 7.0 Box-Toppers points and Felipe Vazquez of the Pirates in third place with 6.0 points.
In the AL, Box-Toppers included both Diaz and Treinen on the ballot, but in reverse order of their finish. Box-Toppers did not include Craig Kimbrel of the Red Sox, who was fourth among AL closers with 7.0 Box-Toppers points. Box-Toppers third-place choice for AL reliever was Lou Trivino of the Athletics with 8.0 Box-Toppers points.
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The IBWAA was established July 4, 2009 to organize and promote the growing online baseball media, and to serve as a digital alternative to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). Voting for full season awards takes place in September of each year, with selections being announced in November. The IBWAA also holds a Hall of Fame election in December of each year, with results being announced the following January.
Among others, IBWAA members include Jim Bowden, Pedro Moura, Ken Rosenthal and Eno Sarris, The Athletic; Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports; Craig Calcaterra, NBC Sports Hardball Talk; Bill Chuck, Billy-Ball.com; Chris De Luca, Chicago Sun-Times; Jon Heyman, Fancred; Tyler Kepner, New York Times; Danny Knobler, Bleacher Report; Kevin Kennedy; Kostya Kennedy, Sports Illustrated; Brian Kenny, MLBN; Will Leitch, New York Magazine; Bruce Markusen, Hardball Times; Ross Newhan; Dayn Perry and Matt Snyder, CBSSports.com; Tom Hoffarth, Los Angeles Times; J.P. Hoornstra Los Angeles Daily News; Tracy Ringolsby, MLB.com; David Schoenfield, ESPN.com; and Bill Arnold.
IBWAA ballot tabulations were done by Brian Wittig & Associates, using the Borda Method.
Association membership is open to any and all Internet baseball writers, with a $75 lifetime fee. Discounts for groups and scholarships are available. Members must be 18 years of age to apply.
For more information please visit www.ibwaa.com.