Aroldis Chapman of the Boston Red Sox named the American League Reliever of the Month for July; Mason Miller of the San Diego Padres named the National League Reliever of the Month for July
All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman of the Boston Red Sox has been voted the American League Reliever of the Month for July and All-Star closer Mason Miller of the San Diego Padres has been named the National League Reliever of the Month for July. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Chapman earned his seventh career award and fifth in the American League after previously winning in July and August 2012 as a member of the Cincinnati Reds; September 2017 and May and August 2019 as a member of the New York Yankees; and August 2025 as a member of the Red Sox. Miller claimed his fifth career award and fourth in the National League after previously winning in March/April 2024 as a member of the Athletics, and September 2025, March/April and May 2026 as a member of the Padres. After joining Jonathan Papelbon (April 2006); Craig Kimbrel (May 2017); Brandon Workman (September 2019); and Matt Barnes (April 2021) last season as the fifth Red Sox reliever to win the award, Chapman became the first Red Sox reliever to earn the award twice. Miller joined Craig Kimbrel, Emmanuel Clase, Chapman, Josh Hader, and Edwin Díaz as the only relievers to earn the award five-or-more times, and became the sixth reliever (seventh occurrence) to receive the honor at least three times in a single season, joining Rafael Soriano (May, July & August 2010 w/TB); Díaz (2x: April, June, July & August 2018 w/SEA and June, July & August 2022 w/NYM); Clase (June, August & September/October 2022 w/CLE); Félix Bautista (April, June & July 2023 w/BAL); and Ryan Helsley (March/April, June, & September 2024 w/STL).
Aroldis Chapman, Boston Red Sox (_thecubanmissile54)
The 38-year-old pitched to a 0.75 ERA (1 ER/12.0 IP) while converting all 10 of his save opportunities across 12 appearances in which he allowed nine hits with five walks, 17 strikeouts, a 1.17 WHIP, a .205 opponents’ average and 12.75 strikeouts per nine innings.
The Holguin, Cuba native led the Majors with 10 saves, tied for 11th with 17 strikeouts, and tallied a 34.7 strikeout percentage and 12.75 strikeouts per nine innings.
The 17-year veteran closed out a 6-4 win over the Blue Jays on July 24th, earning his 391st career save to surpass Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley for ninth-most saves all time.
Chapman picked up his 1,364th career strikeout on July 3rd, surpassing Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm’s
previous record and now stands alone as MLB’s all-time strikeout leader as a reliever.
The nine-time All-Star’s 10 saves in July tied for fifth-most in a calendar month in Red Sox history, trailing only Bob Stanley (12, August 1980); Craig Kimbrel (11, May 2018); Derek Lowe (11, September/October 2000); and Jeff Russell (11, July 1993). His 10 seasons with 25-or-more saves are tied for sixth-most in MLB history behind Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera (16); Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman (14); Kenley Jansen (13); Hall of Famer Lee Smith (13); and John Franco (11).
Mason Miller, San Diego Padres (mason.j.miller)
The 28-year-old pitched to a 0.82 ERA (1 ER/11.0 IP) while converting all seven of his save opportunities across 11 appearances in which he allowed five hits with two walks, 19 strikeouts, a 0.64 WHIP, a .135 opponents’ average and 15.55 strikeouts per nine innings.
The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native’s 47.5 strikeout percentage ranked second; seven saves tied for third; 15.55 strikeouts per nine innings ranked fourth; and 0.64 WHIP tied for 10th-best among all qualified relievers.
The two-time All-Star’s Expansion Era (since 1961) record of both games pitched and innings pitched without allowing an extra-base hit came to an end on July 17th against the Kansas City Royals. Miller
reached 58 games and 61.0 consecutive innings without allowing an extra-base hit, surpassing Alan Embree (47 games, 1997-98) and Luis Aquino (56.0 inning pitched, 1988-89) for the longest previous such streaks.
Miller’s 25 saves tied for second-most in the first half of the season and he was the only relief pitcher to post a 100% save percentage in the first half (min. 20 SV). Miller became just the seventh Padres reliever (ninth occurrence) to record 25-or-more saves before the All-Star break and he joined Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman as the only two to do so with a 100.0% save rate.
The third-round pick in the 2021 Draft (ATH) recorded his third month with at least seven saves and 19 strikeouts as a member of the Padres, joining Hoffman (4x: September 1996, July & August 1997 & August 1998) and Kirby Yates (3x: April, May & August 2019) as the only relievers in franchise history to complete the feat in three-or-more months.
Others receiving votes for AL Reliever of the Month included All-Star Bryan Baker (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 10 G, 9-for-9 SV, 10.0 IP, 5 H, 0 HR, 4 BB, 10 SO) of the Tampa Bay Rays; David Bednar (2-0, 1.50 ERA, 11 G, 7-for-7 SV, 12.0 IP, 5 H, 1 HR, 2 BB, 13 SO) and Brent Headrick (2-0, 0.59 ERA, 14 G, 15.1 IP, 9 H, 0 HR, 2 BB, 23 SO) of the New York Yankees; Jordan Hicks (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 11 G, 11.0 IP, 3 H, 0 HR, 5 BB, 18 SO) and Grant Taylor (0-1, 1.59 ERA, 8 G, 3-for-4 SV, 11.1 IP, 3 H, 1 HR, 6 BB, 13 SO) of the Chicago White Sox; Spencer Miles (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 5 G, 11.0 IP, 7 H, 0 HR, 3 BB, 13 SO) and All-Star Louis Varland (0-0, 0.90 ERA, 9 G, 7-for-7 SV, 10.0 IP, 8 H, 0 HR, 2 BB, 9 SO) of the Toronto Blue Jays; and All-Star Cade Smith (1-0, 0.77 ERA, 11 G, 4-for-5 SV, 11.2 IP, 4 H, 1 HR, 4 BB, 13 SO) of the Cleveland Guardians.
Others receiving votes for NL Reliever of the Month included Tejay Antone (0-0, 0.82 ERA, 11 G, 11.0 IP, 6 H, 1 HR, 2 BB, 10 SO), Brock Burke (1-1, 2.08 ERA, 14 G, 13.0 IP, 9 H, 1 HR, 6 BB, 10 SO), and Emilio Pagán (2-0, 1.93 ERA, 10 G, 5-for-5 SV, 9.1 IP, 5 H, 1 HR, 2 BB, 15 SO) of the Cincinnati Reds; Brennan Bernardino (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 13 G, 1-for-3 SV, 12.1 IP, 6 H, 0 HR, 3 BB, 9 SO) of the Colorado Rockies; Brandyn Garcia (0-0, 1.54 ERA, 14 G, 2-for-2 SV, 11.2 IP, 7 H, 0 HR, 2 BB, 16 SO) of the Arizona Diamondbacks; Erik Miller (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 10 G, 2-for-2 SV, 11.0 IP, 5 H, 0 HR, 3 BB, 16 SO) of the San Francisco Giants; Mason Montgomery (2-0, 1.59 ERA, 12 G, 2-for-2 SV, 11.1 IP, 3 H, 1 HR, 4 BB, 22 SO) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; and Abner Uribe (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 11 G, 1-for-1 SV,