Closer Josh Hader of the Houston Astros has been named the American League Reliever of the Month for June, and closer David Bednar of the Pittsburgh Pirates has been voted the National League Reliever of the Month for June. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Hader claimed his eighth career Reliever of the Month Award and second as a member of the Astros after winning last August. His eight career awards are second-most since 2005, when MLB began recognizing a reliever of the month, trailing Edwin Díaz, who earned his ninth career award last month. Prior to his most previous honor, Hader won five times as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers, including in April 2018, May & June 2019, June 2021 and April 2022. He also won in April 2023 as a member of the San Diego Padres and is one of two pitchers to win the award with three different clubs, joining Craig Kimbrel, who won three times as a member of the Atlanta Braves (August 2011, September 2012 & August 2013), and once each as a member of the Boston Red Sox (May 2017) and Philadelphia Phillies (June 2023). Hader is one of three Astros to earn the honor, joined by Brad Lidge (July 2005) and Jose Valverde (August 2008), with Hader being the first to win multiple times.
Bednar earned his second Reliever of the Month Award after earning the Pirates most recent honor in May 2022, becoming the third Pirate to win the award multiple times. Other Pirates to win the award include Jose Mesa (April 2005); Joel Hanrahan (June 2011); Jason Grilli (2x: April & May 2013); and Felipe Vázquez (2x: July 2018 & August 2019).
Josh Hader, Houston Astros (@josh.hader)
The 31-year-old went 4-1 with a 1.98 ERA (3 ER/13.2 IP), converting all nine of his save opportunities across 14 appearances in which he allowed six hits with a walk, 22 strikeouts, a 0.51 WHIP, a .128 opponents’ average and 14.49 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
The Millersville, Maryland native paced qualified relievers in wins and saves; ranked third in strikeouts; and tied for sixth in WHIP.
The three-time Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year has converted each of his first 24 saves to begin the year, setting a new franchise record to break the previous club record of 21 consecutive saves by Dave Smith to begin 1989. Hader is one of seven Astros relievers (10th occurrence) to register at least nine saves without a blown save in a calendar month. Along with his nine perfect saves in July 2024, he is one of two Astros to accomplish the feat twice, joining Jose Valverde, who had nine saves in August 2009; and 10 saves in both May & August 2008.
The five-time All-Star notched multiple saves in consecutive three-game sets against Philadelphia and Chicago (NL) from June 24-29th, and he has now recorded multiple saves within a single series four times this season. Hader converted back-to-back saves on June 24th-25th against Philadelphia, marking the third time he recorded a save on back-to-back days this season (April 18th-19th against San Diego and May 18th-19th at Texas and at Tampa Bay).
The southpaw paces the Majors with 24 saves this season and his 59 strikeouts are third-most among qualified relievers, trailing his teammate Bryan Abreu and Minnesota’s Griffin Jax, who are each tied with 60. Hader struck out multiple batters in nine of his 14 appearances, the most of any reliever in June. Along with a pair saves on May 24th and May 28th in which he struck out the side, he registered multiple strikeouts in eight straight games, tied for the third-longest streak in his career and longest since an eight-game streak from August 28-September 12, 2019. Since his debut in 2017, Hader’s 261 career games with multiple strikeouts are the most in the Majors, trailed by Edwin Díaz’s 234 multi-strikeout appearances.
David Bednar, Houston Astros (@david_bednar)
The 30-year-old went 2-1 with a 0.00 ERA (0 ER/10.0 IP), converting all five of his save opportunities across 10 appearances in which he allowed an unearned run on four hits with three walks, 16 strikeouts, a 0.70 WHIP, a .121 opponents’ batting average and 14.40 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
The Pittsburgh native was one of 15 qualified relievers across the Majors and one of seven in the NL to not allow an earned run; tied for ninth among all qualified relievers in fewest hits allowed; and ranked seventh among qualified NL relievers in WHIP.
The two-time All-Star has not allowed an earned run in each of his last 15 appearances since May 24th against Milwaukee, lowering his ERA from 5.17 to 2.73 during the stretch. He is the 10th Pirates closer (15th occurrence) to register at least five saves in a calendar month without allowing an earned run and the first since Felipe Vázquez in August 2018.
The 35th-round selection in the 2016 Draft did not allow a hit in four consecutive appearances from June 6th-13th. He is the first Pirates closer to have more saves than hits allowed in a calendar month since Jason Grilli in May 2013, when he recorded 12 saves while allowing just seven hits.
The Lafayette College product has 96 career saves and is seeking to become the fifth Pirates closer with 100 career saves since it officially became a statistic in 1969, joining Kent Tekulve (158 SV); Mike Williams (140 SV); Dave Giusti (133 SV); and Mark Melancon (130 SV).
Others receiving votes for AL Reliever of the Month included Aroldis Chapman (0.00 ERA, 12 G, 6 SV, 11.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 2 BB, 19 SO) of the Boston Red Sox; Félix Bautista (0.82 ERA, 11 G, 6 SV, 11.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 HR, 5 BB, 19 SO) of the Baltimore Orioles; Reid Detmers (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 13 G, 2 SV, 13.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 8 BB, 20 SO) of the Los Angeles Angels; and Braydon Fisher (0.00 ERA, 13 G, 13.1 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 HR, 3 BB, 19 SO) of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Others receiving votes for NL Reliever of the Month included Tanner Scott (1-1, 1.35 ERA, 13 G, 8 SV, 13.1 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 HR, 3 BB, 14 SO) and Justin Wrobleski (3-0, 1.77 ERA, 4 G, 20.1 IP, 16 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 HR, 3 BB, 21 SO) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Adrian Morejon (2-1, 0.00 ERA, 15 G, 1 SV, 13.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 2 BB, 13 SO) of the San Diego Padres; Randy Rodríguez (0.82 ERA, 12 G, 1 SV, 11.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 HR, 4 BB, 16 SO) and Camilo Doval (12 G, 7 SV, 16 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 1 HR, 8 BB, 13 SO) of the San Francisco Giants; Brad Lord (1-0, 1.04 ERA, 13 G, 17.1 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 1 HR, 5 BB, 12 SO) of the Washington Nationals; Dylan Lee (0.00 ERA, 11 G, 1 SV, 12.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 1 BB, 15 SO) of the Atlanta Braves; Edwin Díaz (1-0, 1.08 ERA, 9 G, 4 SV, 8.1 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 0 HR, 1 BB, 12 SO) and José Buttó (0.00 ERA, 10 G, 1 SV, 13.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 4 BB, 13 SO) of the New York Mets; Emilio Pagán (1-0, 0.96 ERA, 9 G, 4 SV, 9.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 HR, 5 BB, 13 SO) of the Cincinnati Reds; Orion Kerkering (0.82 ERA, 12 G, 2 SV, 11.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 HR, 5 BB, 13 SO) of the Philadelphia Phillies; Brad Keller (1-0, 0.96 ERA, 9 G, 9.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 HR, 4 BB, 8 SO) of the Chicago Cubs; Trevor Megill (1-0, 3.18 ERA, 10 G, 8 SV, 11.1 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 HR, 3 BB, 15 SO) of the Milwaukee Brewers; and Shelby Miller (2.31 ERA, 12 G, 5 SV, 11.2 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 2 HR, 1 BB, 15 SO) of the Arizona Diamondbacks.