Liam Hendriks, Devin Williams Named 2020 Relievers of the Year Presented by The Hartford

Liam Hendriks of the Oakland Athletics is the winner of the 2020 Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year Award, and rookie Devin Williams of the Milwaukee Brewers is the winner of the 2020 Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year Award, Major League Baseball and presenting sponsor The Hartford announced today. Williams has become the first rookie and the first pitcher without a save ever to earn either the Hoffman or Rivera Award.

“Honored is an understatement,” said Hendriks. “It’s humbling to win an award that bears the name of the greatest closer in history. I’m extremely thankful to my teammates. If they weren’t behind me on the field, I wouldn’t be half the pitcher I am today. A huge thank you to the bullpen for sharing years of invaluable advice and experience with me. Thank you to the coaching staff and the entire organization for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to play in the green and gold. To my agency, MVP, for all the work you do behind the scenes. A huge thank you to Codify for keeping me ahead of the game. A sincere thank you to the panel of voters. To be recognized by your greatness is a true honor. Finally, to A’s fans everywhere, I’ve had the privilege to represent you since I arrived here five years ago and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

“I am very excited to earn NL Reliever of the Year and have this prestigious award remain with the Brewers for a third straight season,” said Williams. “I want to thank the organization – particularly my manager, coaches and teammates – for all of the support. I also thank the great Brewers fans, who were watching and cheering us on from home during this unique season.”

Balloting for the Rivera and Hoffman Awards, which debuted in the 2014 season, was conducted among a panel of seven all-time great relievers in order to determine the recipients. Rivera and Hoffman, both of whom spent their entire careers in the same League en route to the top of the all-time saves list, were joined as voters by three fellow Hall of Fame relief pitchers – Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers and Lee Smith – as well as John Franco and Billy Wagner. The seven voters ranked the top three AL relief pitchers and the top three NL relief pitchers based solely on regular season performance, using a 5-3-1 weighted point system.