Seattle Mariners closer Edwin Díaz has been voted April's American League Reliever of the Month Presented by The Hartford, and Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Josh Hader has been voted the National League Reliever of the Month Presented by The Hartford for the opening period of the 2018 season. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.
Díaz pitched in 14 games in March/April for the Mariners, converting each of his 11 save opportunities and striking out 27 opposing batters. Edwin permitted just two hits, did not surrender a home run and finished the month with a 0.63 ERA over 14.1 innings pitched to claim his second career AL Reliever of the Month Award, also taking home honors in July of last season. The hard-throwing righty is just the ninth pitcher in Major League history to log at least 11 saves and 27 strikeouts in any calendar month, and the first since All-Star Aroldis Chapman registered 13 saves and 31 punchouts for the Cincinnati Reds in July 2012. The Puerto Rican
native is the second Mariner to accomplish the feat, joining Norm Charlton, who posted 11 saves and 29 strikeouts in September 1995. In addition, Díaz is just the second hurler since at least 1908 to limit opposing batters to just a pair of hits with 27 strikeouts across at least 14.0 innings of work in a calendar month. Chicago Cubs All-Star Carlos Marmol was the first to do so, also limiting the opposition to just two hits with 27 punchouts over 15.2 innings in September 2010. Díaz, who has logged a strikeout in each appearance thus far this season, currently has the fifth-longest streak for a reliever to begin a season with a strikeout in each outing in Club history, trailing Carter Capps (18, 2013), Kazuhiro Sasaki (16, 2002), Rich DeLucia (15, 1993) and Karl Best (15, 1985). Additionally, the 24-year-old has logged multi-strikeout outings in 10 of his appearances, including each of his last four. The Mariners (17-11) have won each game in which Edwin has appeared this season and enter play today 1.5 games behind the Houston Astros (20-11) in the competitive AL West.
Others receiving votes for AL Reliever of the Month included Hector Velázquez (2-0, 0.59 ERA, 11.2 IP, 10 SO) of the Boston Red Sox; 2017 All-Star Chris Devenski (1-0, 0.73 ERA, 12.1 IP, 14 SO) of the Houston Astros; two-time All-Star Andrew Miller (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 11 G, 17 SO) of the Cleveland Indians; and two-time All-Star Kelvin Herrera (11 G, 0.00 ERA, 11 SO, 0 BB) of the Kansas City Royals.
<w:wrap anchorx="page" anchory="page">As Milwaukee's relief ace, Hader logged four saves with a 1.00 ERA across 11 appearances and 18.0 innings pitched to claim his first career monthly award, and the first for the Brewers since his teammate, All-Star Corey Knebel, earned NL Reliever of the Month honors last August during his breakout season. The hard-throwing lefty paced Major League relievers with 39 strikeouts while permitting just four hits, one home run and five walks during his dominant month. Josh began his outstanding month in historic fashion, registering at least three strikeouts in each of his first seven appearances from March 29th - April 17th, establishing a new Major
League record to begin a season. Hader matched Tom Henke of the Toronto Blue Jays (1989) and Tom Gordon of the Kansas City Royals (1991) for the longest such streak among Major League relievers across any period since 1893. In addition, the 24-year-old has recorded a strikeout in each outing thus far and has logged multi-strikeout efforts in all but one appearance. In the final appearance of his award-winning month, Hader logged 2.2 innings of work comprised exclusively of strikeouts - eight in all - on April 30th against the Cincinnati Reds. The Millersville, Maryland native became the first pitcher since 1893 to record as many as eight punchouts in a game in which he pitched fewer than 3.0 innings. Hader, who is relied upon to log multiple innings of relief for the Brewers, collected his fourth save of the season with at least 2.0 innings pitched. In doing so, he became the first pitcher to accomplish the feat before the month of May since Derek Lowe did so for the Boston Red Sox during his All-Star 2000 campaign.
Others receiving votes for NL Reliever of the Month included Adam Ottavino (3-0, 0.56 ERA, 16.0 IP, 30 SO) of the Colorado Rockies; Brandon Morrow (11 G, 0.00 ERA, 7 SV, 9 SO) of the Chicago Cubs; All-Star Jeurys Familia (1-1, 1.80 ERA, 9 SV, 18 SO) of the New York Mets; three-time All-Star Wade Davis (12 G, 2.38 ERA, 10 SV, 14 SO) of the Colorado Rockies; All-Star Brad Boxberger (0-2, 2.25 ERA, 9 SV, 15 SO) of the Arizona Diamondbacks; Hunter Strickland (2-0, 1.32 ERA, 7 SV, 15 SO) of the San Francisco Giants; and Shane Carle (2-1, 0.96 ERA, 18.2 IP, 17 SO) of the Atlanta Braves.
The American League Reliever of the Month presented by The Hartford, Edwin Díaz, and the National League Reliever of the Month presented by The Hartford, Josh Hader, will each receive a specially designed plaque, suitably engraved, for their accomplishments. The Hartford, the Official Business Insurance & Employee Benefits Sponsor of MLB, has presented baseball's annual Relievers of the Year Awards since 2015. The Hartford Presents the 2018 Relievers of the Year, named in honor of Mariano Rivera (American League) and Trevor Hoffman (National League), will again be presented during the World Series.