Bauer, Garrett win Cincy BBWAA awards

November 19th, 2020

CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America announced the winners of its Reds awards for 2020 on Wednesday.

Pitcher received two honors -- the Ernie Lombardi Most Valuable Player Award presented by TriHealth and the Johnny Vander Meer Most Outstanding Pitcher Award.

Bauer, 29, is the first Reds player to win both awards in the same season since starting pitcher Johnny Cueto in 2014.

Last week, Bauer became the first Cincinnati pitcher to earn the National League Cy Young Award. His peers in the Major Leagues also voted him the winner of the 2020 Players Choice Award for outstanding pitcher in the NL.

In 11 starts and 73 innings during the shortened 2020 season, Bauer was 5-4 with an NL-best 1.73 ERA. He also led the league in WHIP (0.79), opponents’ batting average (.159), opponents’ BABIP (.215), adjusted ERA+ (276), fewest hits per nine innings (5.06), shutouts (2) and complete games (2). He ranked second in strikeouts (100) and strikeouts per nine innings (12.33).

Left-handed reliever received the Joe Nuxhall Good Guy Award. The award is given to Reds players who not only forge positive relationships with members of the media but also are role models in the clubhouse and community.

Garrett, 28, was 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in 21 appearances and retired the first batter in 18 of those appearances. Left-handed hitters batted .043 against him while right-handed hitters batted .231. He struck out 26 batters while allowing 10 hits and issuing seven walks over 18 1/3 innings.

Cincinnati’s BBWAA chapter voted on the team awards upon the conclusion of the regular season.