Box-Toppers’ top-ranked National League relief pitcher won NL Reliever of the Year, while Box-Toppers’ top American League reliever finished second in AL voting.
Box-Toppers Reliever of the Year ballot
Here is a look at Box-Toppers’ 2026 Reliever of the Year Award ballot selections for the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) awards. The ballot requires votes out to three places for each league’s top relief pitcher.Players are shown with their team and their Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2026.
| AL Reliever of the Year | |||
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Cade Smith | Guardians | 9.0 |
| 2 | Jacob Latz | Rangers | 8.0 |
| 3 | Louis Varland | Blue Jays | 7.0 |
| NL Reliever of the Year | |||
| Player | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Mason Miller | Padres | 16.0 |
| 2 | Chad Patrick | Brewers | 7.0 |
| 3 | Andrew Alvarez | Nationals | 6.0 |
Mason Miller of the Padres, who led NL closing pitchers with 16.0 Box-Toppers points, won the NL Reliever of the Year Award. Louis Varland of the Blue Jays, who ranked third among AL closers with 7.0 Box-Toppers points, won the AL Award, finishing ahead of Guardians closer Cade Smith, who led all AL relievers with 9.0 Box-Toppers points.
A look at AL Reliever of the Year voting and how candidates fared in Box-Toppers points.
A look at NL Reliever of the Year voting and how candidates fared in Box-Toppers points.
The awards are voted on by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). Ballots are cast at the end of the regular season, before the postseason.
This is a brand-new honor from the baseball writers, who also vote on MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, and Manager of the Year. In a previous post (now corrected), Box-Toppers characterized the BBWAA award as a continuation of relief pitcher honors established in 2014. However, those existing honors—the Mariano Rivera (AL) and Trevor Hoffman (NL) awards, voted on by a panel of former relievers—remain separate and continue independently in 2026.
Both sets of reliever honors were announced Wednesday: The panel of former relievers also chose Miller as top NL reliever, but selected Bryan Baker of the Rays as top AL reliever. Baker earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2026 (16th among AL closers) and finished third in the BBWAA voting.
AL Reliever of the Year
Louis Varland of the Blue Jays received 16 of the 30 first-place votes from baseball writers.
Varland ranked third among AL pitchers in games finished (53) and tied for third in saves (35). His 7.0 Box-Toppers points were third among AL closers, behind Cade Smith of the Guardians (9.0) and Jacob Latz of the Rangers (8.0).
Smith and Bryan Baker tied for the AL lead in saves (41), while Latz ranked sixth (30).
Smith finished second in BBWAA voting with seven first-place votes, while Baker finished third with six first-place votes.
NL Reliever of the Year
Mason Miller won NL Reliever of the Year unanimously, capturing all 30 first-place votes.
Miller tied for the NL lead in saves (38). His 16.0 Box-Toppers points not only led NL closers, but ranked seventh among all NL pitchers and 13th among all MLB players—marking the fourth-highest single-season total by a reliever in Box-Toppers history. He more than doubled the point total of second-ranked NL closer Andrew Alvarez of the Nationals (6.0), who received no BBWAA votes.
Phillies closer Jhoan Duran finished second in voting, picking up 24 of 30 second-place votes. His 5.0 Box-Toppers points ranked fourth among NL closers, and his 33 saves ranked fourth among NL pitchers.
Brewers closer Trevor Megill finished third in voting. His 4.0 Box-Toppers points were sixth among NL closers, and his 30 saves ranked fifth among NL pitchers.
Box-Toppers tracks closing pitchers and middle relievers in separate categories, though some pitchers qualify to rank in both. Closers generally earn more Box-Toppers points because save situations provide more opportunities to win Player of the Game honors. However, classifications depend on each game's role: a middle reliever who finishes a game and wins Player of the Game is credited as a closer for that contest, while a closer who exits before the final out and wins Player of the Game is credited as a middle reliever.
Varland, Miller Win in IBWAA Reliever of the Year Voting
In separate voting, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA)—in which Box-Toppers participates—also selected Varland and Miller as top relievers:
American League
Louis Varland, Blue Jays (104 points)
Cade Smith, Guardians (91 points)
Bryan Baker, Rays (54 points)
National League
Mason Miller, Padres (163 points)
Jhoan Duran, Phillies (60 points)
Trevor Megill, Brewers (18 points)
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 contributes most to their team’s victory. Using standard box score statistics, we identify the Player of the Game for every MLB contest. In the regular season, winners earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point, with bonus points awarded to the top overall and league-specific players of the day. More on how Box-Toppers works.
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American League Reliever of the Award voting
Louis Varland of the Blue Jays was voted 2026 AL Reliever of the Year Award winner. He ranked third among AL closing pitchers in 2026 Box-Toppers points (7.0). Below are the AL relievers in order of their voting finish, shown with their first- through fifth-place votes and their voting points total. Also shown are each player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2026 and their rank in points among AL closing pitchers (pitchers who are primarily ranked among AL middle relievers are marked with ^.)| AL relievers | Team | Pos | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Points | BTP | Rank† | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Louis Varland | Blue Jays | pi cp | 16 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 146 | 7.0 | 3 |
| 2 | Cade Smith | Guardians | pi cp | 7 | 15 | 8 | 133 | 9.0 | 1 | ||
| 3 | Bryan Baker | Rays | pi cp | 6 | 8 | 11 | 2 | 111 | 3.0 | 16 | |
| 4 | Aroldis Chapman | Red Sox | pi cp | 1 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 36 | 4.0 | 10 | |
| 5 | Josh Hader | Astros | pi mr cp | 1 | 4 | 7 | 22 | 2.0 | 23 | ||
| 6 | David Bednar | Yankees | pi cp | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 20 | 5.0 | 6 | |
| 7 | Jacob Latz | Rangers | pi cp | 7 | 3 | 17 | 8.0 | 2 | |||
| 8 | Brent Headrick | Yankees | pi mr | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 2.0 | 33^ | ||
| 9 | Garrett Whitlock | Rangers | pi mr | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1.0 | 47^ | |||
| 10 | Grant Taylor | White Sox | pi mr cp | 3 | 3 | 4.0 | 12 | ||||
| 11 | Spencer Miles | Blue Jays | pi mr | 2 | 2 | 6.0 | 4^ | ||||
| 11 | Tyler Rogers | Blue Jays | pi mr cp | 1 | 2 | 1.0 | 38 |
† Rank shown is among AL closing pitchers, unless marked with ^. Those players are primarily ranked among AL middle relievers.
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National League Reliever of the Award voting
Mason Miller of the Padres was voted 2026 NL Reliever of the Year Award winner. He ranked first among NL closing pitchers in 2026 Box-Toppers points (16.0). Below are the NL relievers in order of their voting finish, shown with their first- through fifth-place votes and their voting points total. Also shown are each player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total for 2026 and their rank in points among NL closing pitchers (pitchers who are primarily ranked among NL middle relievers are marked with ^.)| NL relievers | Team | Pos | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Points | BTP | Rank† | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mason Miller | Padres | pi cp | 30 | 210 | 16.0 | 1 | ||||
| 2 | Jhoan Duran | Phillies | pi cp | 24 | 4 | 1 | 110 | 5.0 | 4 | ||
| 3 | Trevor Megill | Brewers | pi cp | 2 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 66 | 4.0 | 6 | |
| 4 | Adrián Morejón | Padres | pi mr | 4 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 64 | 5.0 | 4^ | |
| 5 | Raisel Iglesias | Braves | pi cp | 2 | 4 | 3 | 17 | 3.0 | 13 | ||
| 6 | Mason Montgomery | Pirates | pi cp | 3 | 5 | 11 | 2.0 | 32 | |||
| 7 | Didier Fuentes | Braves | pi mr | 3 | 4 | 10 | 2.0 | 31^ | |||
| 8 | Tanner Scott | Dodgers | pi cp | 1 | 6 | 8 | 4.0 | 7 | |||
| 9 | Aaron Ashby | Brewers | pi mr | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5.0 | 5^ | ||
| 10 | Dylan Lee | Braves | pi mr | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1.0 | 49^ | |||
| 11 | Brandyn Garcia | Diamondbacks | pi cp | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 29 | ||||
| 11 | Abner Uribe | Brewers | pi mr | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 25^ | ||||
| 13 | Emilio Pagan | Reds | pi cp | 1 | 1 | 2.0 | 22 |
† Rank shown is among NL closing pitchers, unless marked with ^. Those players are primarily ranked among NL middle relievers.
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Box-Toppers
Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.