Edwin Diaz of the Mets and Emmanuel Clase of the Guardians were named 2022 Relievers of the Year by Major League Baseball Tuesday.
Reliever of the Year
Here are the three relief pitchers in each league with the most Box-Toppers points (BTP) in 2022. Scott Barlow of the Royals led American League relievers with 7.0 Box-Toppers points and Daniel Bard of the Rockies led National League relievers with 8.0 points. Neither was named their league’s 2022 Reliever of the Year. The AL winner is Emmanual Clase of the Guardians, whose 2.0 Box-Toppers points ranked 24th among all AL closers (outside the top three). The NL winner is Edwin Diaz of the Mets, whose 7.0 Box-Toppers points was second among NL closers.| AL Reliever of the Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scott Barlow | Royals | 7.0 |
| 2 | Ryan Pressly | Astros | 6.0 |
| 3 | Caleb Thielbar | Twins | 5.7 |
| 24 | Emmanuel Clase | Guardians | 2.0 |
| NL Reliever of the Year | |||
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Daniel Bard | Rockies | 8.0 |
| 2 | Edwin Diaz | Mets | 7.0 |
| 3 | Josh Hader | Padres | 6.0 |
Diaz, the winner in the National League, ranked second among all NL closing pitchers with 7.0 Box-Toppers points. But Clase, winner in the American League, ranked far outside the top three AL closers—in 24th place—with 2.0 Box-Toppers points.
Box-Toppers’ top-ranked closers in 2022 were Scott Barlow of the Royals in the AL with 7.0 Box-Toppers points and Daniel Bard of the Rockies in the NL with 8.0 Box-Toppers points.
While Clase had a low Box-Toppers point total, he led all players with 42 saves in 2022. He was also Box-Toppers Player of the Game in the 2022 All-Star Game (in which no Box-Toppers points are awarded).
Diaz had 32 saves, fourth-most in the NL. Diaz struck out 118 batters over 62 innings, an average of 17.1 strikeouts per nine innings.
Barlow, the AL leader among relievers in Box-Toppers points, had 24 saves, sixth among AL pitchers. Bard, the NL leader among relievers in Box-Toppers points, had 34 saves, third among NL pitchers.
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In separate voting, the Internet Baseball Writers of America (IBWAA), of which Box-Toppers is a voting member, also voted Clase and Diaz as Relievers of the Year. (Complete list of IBWAA award winners.)
Here are those election results:
American League
1st Place: Emmanuel Clase, Guardians, 335 points
2nd Place: Jordan Romano, Blue Jays, 108 points
3rd Place: Liam Hendriks, White Sox, 53 points
National League
1st Place: Edwin Díaz, Mets, 295 points
2nd Place: Daniel Bard, Rockies, 87 points
3rd Place: Kenley Jansen, Braves, 76 points
The IBWAA represents more than 750 baseball content creators. Voting for full-season awards takes place at the end of the regular season each year, with selections announced in November.
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.
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