Major League Baseball announced in April that two new regular-season awards would be handed out every year, going to the top reliever in each league. The NL’s award was named after Trevor Hoffman and the AL’s was named after Mariano Rivera. Here, via MLB’s Twitter account, are the first recipients ...
That’s MLB commissioner-elect Rob Manfred standing between the two relievers. Kimbrel tallied a National League-leading 47 saves in 2014 for the Braves alongside a 1.61 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 13.9 K/9. Holland had a 1.44 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 13.0 K/9 for the Royals. He can further pad his résumé in the World Series.
.@Royals closer Greg Holland wins Mariano Rivera Award; @Braves closer @kimbrel46 receives Trevor Hoffman Award. pic.twitter.com/GYnSX5ntjG
— MLB (@MLB) October 22, 2014
That’s MLB commissioner-elect Rob Manfred standing between the two relievers. Kimbrel tallied a National League-leading 47 saves in 2014 for the Braves alongside a 1.61 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 13.9 K/9. Holland had a 1.44 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 13.0 K/9 for the Royals. He can further pad his résumé in the World Series.
You could easily argue that Holland’s teammate Wade Davis was more deserving -- he finished with a 1.00 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, and 13.6 K/9 -- but this is apparently an award designed for closers. Yay, saves.