2019 Dugout Edge Regular Season Awards: Rookies, Managers, and Relievers of the Year

These awards are based on how I would assign them, not how I believe they will end up. This follows the MVP and Cy Young awards article.

American League Rookie of the Year
Winner: DH Yordan Alvarez (Houston Astros)
Stat Line: 27 HR, 78 RBI, .313/.412/.655, 0 SB, 178 wRC+, 3.8 fWAR in 87 games
In order to win the Rookie of the Year Award while playing just 87 games and DH'ing in most of them, you have to hit pretty well. Well, Yordan Alvarez hit pretty well, slashing .313/.412/.655 with 27 home runs and 26 doubles, and his 178 wRC+ would have been second in baseball only to Mike Trout's 180 if he had qualified. It started when the then-21 year old homered in four of his first five career games, and he never slowed down from there with five multi-homer efforts (including a three homer game) in his abbreviated rookie season. Perhaps as impressively for a rookie power hitter, he hit .313 with a .412 on-base percentage. The numbers get even crazier when you include the minors; between AAA Round Rock and the majors, he cracked 50 home runs, drove in 149, and slashed .325/.424/.690 over 143 games.

Runner-up: LHP John Means (Baltimore Orioles)
Stat Line: 12-11, 3.60 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 121/38 K/BB in 155 innings
A combination of a boring name, lack of big prospect status, and a terrible team means that it was hard to notice John Means. Still, he quietly put up one of the better pitching seasons in the American League, his 3.60 ERA being a product of pitching in the tough AL East in a hitter-friendly home park with a juiced ball. For reference, his 77 ERA-, which adjusts for home park and league average, put him in the same neighborhood as Walker Buehler and Luis Castillo. Means started off strong and actually carried a 2.50 ERA through the first half, and while he regressed in the second half with a 4.85 ERA, the final product was still an extremely productive season with a poor defense behind him in a very hitter-friendly environment. His most impressive start of the season came on May 6th, just his fifth career start, when he limited the Boston Red Sox to one run on three hits, no walks, and four strikeouts over seven innings.

Honorable mention: UTIL Luis Arraez (Minnesota Twins)
Stat Line: 4 HR, 28 RBI, .334/.399/.439, 2 SB, 125 wRC+, 2.1 fWAR in 92 games
You could make a very strong case for Eloy Jimenez or Brandon Lowe here, and I was very tempted to choose them, but Luis Arraez was so darn impressive that I just had to put him third. Turning 22 right at the beginning of the season, Arraez was considered more of a utility prospect and started the season at AA Pensacola, but he hit .342 there and earned a promotion to the majors in May, slashing .375/.467/.583 in a small sample size before getting sent down to AAA Rochester. However, after hitting .348 there, he was called back up for good in June and picked up right where he left off, and he turned out to be one of the game's most consistent hitters. Of the 85 in which he had at least two at bats, he had at least one hit in 70 of them, putting together two double-digit hitting streaks along the way. Additionally, in the 90 games in which he had at least one plate appearance, he was on base in 79 of them. His .334 batting average and .399 on-base percentage provided crucial balance to a Twins team that set the single season record for home runs, but he was just as important on defense, filling in wherever he was needed and appearing in 49 games at second base, 17 at third base, eight at shortstop, and 21 in left field. In a year where the home run was king, Arraez was one of the more unconventional players.

Others
2B Brandon Lowe (TB, 17 HR, .270/.336/.514, 125 wRC+, 2.6 fWAR)
LF Eloy Jimenez (CWS, 31 HR, .267/.315/.513, 116 wRC+, 1.9 fWAR)
RHP Zach Plesac (CLE, 3.81 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 88/40/115.2 K/BB/IP)
RF Oscar Mercado (CLE, 15 HR, .269/.318/.443, 15 SB, 95 wRC+, 1.7 fWAR)
3B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (15 HR, .272/.339/.433, 105 wRC+, 0.4 fWAR)

National League Rookie of the Year
Winner: 1B Pete Alonso (New York Mets)
Stat Line: 53 HR, 120 RBI, .260/.358/.583, 1 SB, 143 wRC+, 4.8 fWAR in 161 games
What if Yordan Alvarez, but over 161 games instead of 87? Alright, while Pete Alonso wasn't quite as good as Alvarez on a per-game basis, this was still a Judgian rookie year. You could say that Alonso was just taking part in a league-wide homer barrage with the juiced balls, but he still led all of MLB with 53 home runs while breaking Aaron Judge's rookie record. He hit at least six home runs in each month (a 36 home run pace at worst) while slugging at least .566 in every month except July, where he slumped to just a .177/.333/.430 line. Still, he turned that slump around with a strong August (.283/.372/.566) then crushed eleven home runs in September to close out the year. His season-long homer barrage included four multi-homer games, an August stretch with home runs in four consecutive games, and two additional streaks with homers in three consecutive games. Oh yeah, and while he was slumping in July, he won the Home Run Derby as a rookie. Not too shabby.

Runner-up: RHP Mike Soroka (Atlanta Braves)
Stat Line: 13-4, 2.68 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 142/41 K/BB in 174.2 innings
Alonso's homer barrage combined with all the other great rookies in the NL made it easy to miss Mike Soroka's incredible season at the top of the Braves rotation, as he actually finished third in the NL in ERA. Indeed, Soroka held down a 2.68 ERA over 29 starts, allowing three or fewer earned runs in 25 of those. He was particularly dominant at the start of the season, heading into mid-June 7-1 with a 1.38 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP over his first ten starts. He has incredible poise on the mound for someone who just turned 22 in August, and his strong command in a day where velocity is king have garnered him some comparisons to Greg Maddux. While Soroka has a long, long way to go to match Maddux's production, a likely top ten and possible top five finish in the NL Cy Young race is as good of a start as you can have.

Honorable mention: RHP Chris Paddack (San Diego Padres)
Stat Line: 9-7, 3.33 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 153/31 K/BB in 140.2 innings
It came down to a couple of Padres for this third spot, but unfortunately Fernando Tatis Jr. only playing half the season due to injuries pushes Chris Paddack just a hair ahead of him. Paddack made 26 starts and posted a 3.33 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP, the latter of which would have been third in the NL and way ahead of Soroka if he had enough innings to qualify. He did slow down a bit as the season progressed, and a four start stretch in August in which he allowed 19 earned runs in 17 innings inflated his ERA from 2.78 to 3.84, but when he was on, he was one of the best pitchers in the National League, period. After he posted a 1.93 ERA in April, Pete Alonso was named the NL Rookie of the Month, and that irked Paddack enough that in his first start in May, fittingly against the Mets, he struck out eleven over 7.2 shutout innings, including Alonso twice, to lower his ERA to 1.55. That competitiveness makes him one of the most fun pitchers to watch, and it will serve him well in these upcoming winning San Diego teams.

Others
SS Fernando Tatis Jr. (SD, 22 HR, .317/.379/.590, 150 wRC+, 3.6 fWAR)
OF Bryan Reynolds (PIT, 16 HR, .314/.377/.503, 131 wRC+, 3.2 fWAR)
RHP Giovanny Gallegos (STL, 2.31 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 93/16/74 K/BB/IP)
CF Victor Robles (WSH, 17 HR, .255/.326/.419, 28 SB, 91 wRC+, 2.5 fWAR)
RHP Sandy Alcantara (MIA, 3.88 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 151/81/197.1 K/BB/IP)

American League Manager of the Year
Winner: Aaron Boone (New York Yankees): 103-59 (.636 WPCT), AL East Champion
Injuries were the name of the game for the Yankees this year, and they finished the season 103-59. Wait, what? If I told you that you would get a combined 35 games out of Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Andujar, Troy Tulowitzki, and Jacoby Ellsbury while none of Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge, Didi Gregorius, and Aaron Hicks would play in more than 106 games, what would you think of the Yankee offense? What if I then added in that Luis Severino, Dellin Betances, and Jordan Montgomery would combine for 16.2 innings, and that Masahiro Tanaka would be the only pitcher to qualify for the ERA title? Somehow, Aaron Boone managed to manipulate his lineups to squeeze 103 wins of production out of this group, putting unlikely heroes like Mike Tauchman, Gio Urshela, Mike Ford, and Cameron Maybin in positions to succeed. I wasn't in the Yankee clubhouse and so I can't say for certain how it all went down, but Boone and the Yankees certainly overachieved given the rough hand they were dealt.

Runner-up: Kevin Cash (Tampa Bay Rays): 96-66 (.593 WPCT), 2nd AL Wild Card
The most recognizable names on this roster might belong to Blake Snell, Charlie Morton, Kevin Kiermaier, and Tommy Pham, but that never mattered to the low budget Rays. However, that has never been a problem for the Rays, and they finally broke through in 2019 with big seasons from Pham, Austin Meadows, Ji-Man Choi, Brandon Lowe, and Yandy Diaz at the plate as well as Morton, Emilio Pagan, Yonny Chirinos, and Ryan Yarbrough on the mound. Who? Doesn't matter, Cash and the creative Rays front office made it happen. The modern day Moneyball Rays pioneered the opener, which helped get the most out of guys like Chirinos and Yarbrough, and his overall creative style got the Rays to where they are.

Others
A.J. Hinch (HOU, 107-55, .660)
Bob Melvin (OAK, 97-65, .599)
Rocco Baldelli (MIN, 101-61, .623)

National League Manager of the Year
Winner: Brian Snitker (Atlanta Braves): 97-65 (.599 WPCT), NL East Champion
This comes down to Snitker and Davey Martinez to me, and it's hard to pick one without actually having been in the clubhouse. I'll give the edge to Snitker because of the Braves' more consistent performance, but a day in the locker room with either team could change my mind. Still, Snitker managed an extremely young Braves team that included prominent contributors like Ronald Acuña Jr. (age 21), Mike Soroka (21-22), Ozzie Albies (22), Austin Riley (22), Touki Toussaint (22-23), Max Fried (25), Dansby Swanson (25), and Sean Newcomb (26) to a lot of consistent success. A mediocre bullpen also made Snitker's job harder. Even when the Nationals began to surge over the summer, the Braves kept their cool and safely kept them at arm's reach throughout, and the NL East title was never really in doubt.

Runner-up: Davey Martinez (Washington Nationals): 93-69 (.574 WPCT), 1st NL Wild Card
If it was a smooth ride for the Braves, it was anything but for the Nationals. Early season injuries to Anthony Rendon and Trea Turner, combined with poor performance all around, had the Nationals at 19-31 in May and well out of a playoff spot. Through Davey Martinez's "stay in the fight" mantra, as well as a host of other factors including the Gerardo Parra signing, the Nationals completely turned it around and finished the season on a 74-38, including their final eight games, to secure home field advantage in the NL Wild Card Game. Davey navigated an awful bullpen that never really materialized, even with the in-season additions of Daniel Hudson, Fernando Rodney, Hunter Strickland, Roenis Elias, Javy Guerra, and more, though one could say he overused guys like Sean Doolittle and Wander Suero. Perhaps no single game captured the season's essence more than on September 3rd, when the bullpen allowed five runs in the top of the ninth before the Nationals rallied back for seven runs in the bottom of the inning to win 11-10. Starting in May, the team was loose, they had fun, and most importantly, they won ballgames.

Others
Craig Counsell (MIL, 89-73, .549)
Dave Roberts (LAD, 106-56, .654)
Mike Shildt (STL, 91-71, .562)

American League Reliever of the Year
*RE24 measures how much a pitcher has reduced the opposing team's run expectancy. For example, a with a runner on first and nobody out, a team is expected to score 0.831 runs, so if a reliever gets an out to make it a runner on first with one out, that reduces the run expectancy to 0.489 and adds 0.342 (0.831-0.489) to the pitcher's RE24. A higher RE24 is therefore better.

Winner: RHP Liam Hendriks (Oakland Athletics)
Stat Line: 1.80 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 21.86 RE24, 124/21 K/BB in 85 innings
Did you realize just how good Liam Hendriks was for the A's this year, because I sure didn't. In In 75 appearances, he managed a 1.80 ERA, a 0.96 WHIP, and a 21.86 RE24 that was second only to Aaron Bummer (22.81) among American League relievers. He recorded at least one strikeout in 68 of his 75 appearances and finished the year with a 37.3% strikeout rate compared to just a 6.3% walk rate. Additionally, Hendriks got more than three outs in 21 different appearances, proving to be much more than just a one inning plug-in guy.

Runner-up: RHP Emilio Pagan (Tampa Bay Rays)
Stat Line: 2.31 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 13.24 RE24, 96/13 K/BB in 70 innings
It might be hard to keep track of Pagan, as he's a reliever who has played for three small market green teams in three years (Mariners in 2017, A's in 2018, Rays in 2019), but he had by far his best season this year out in Tampa. Over 66 appearances, he pitched to a 2.31 ERA but only allowed one unearned run for a 2.44 RA9, and he also finished second among AL relievers (min. 25 IP) with his 0.83 WHIP, allowing just 45 hits and 13 walks in 70 innings. He struck out 36% of his opponents while walking just 4.9%, his 7.38 K/BB ratio coming in at third place in the AL (min. 25 IP). He was especially lethal against right handed hitters, striking out 63 and walking just three in 46.2 innings while pitching to a 0.71 WHIP. You may not have heard of him, but he's going to be a centerpiece in the Tampa bullpen for the foreseeable future, at least until his contract starts to get heftier.

Others:
RHP Brandon Workman (BOS, 1.88 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 21.05 RE24, 104/45/71.2 K/BB/IP)
RHP Yusmeiro Petit (OAK, 2.71 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 19.22 RE24, 71/10/83 K/BB/IP)
RHP Will Harris (HOU, 1.50 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 17.97 RE24, 62/14 K/BB/IP)

National League Reliever of the Year
Winner: RHP Giovanny Gallegos (St. Louis Cardinals)
Stat Line: 2.31 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 22.55 RE24, 93/16 K/BB in 74 innings
The NL RE24 leader by a long shot, Gallegos' 22.55 mark crushed second place Felipe Vazquez' 17.81 mark by nearly five runs. He struck out exactly one third of his opponents while walking just 5.7%, and he didn't allow an unearned run all season to keep his RA9 right there at 2.31. His ERA and WHIP actually stood at 4.80 and 1.13, respectively, on May 12th, but he kicked it into another gear after that slow start and went the rest of the season, 59 innings, with a 1.68 ERA, a 0.73 WHIP, and a 68/11 strikeout to walk ratio. A mutli-inning weapon, he got more than three outs in 25 of his 66 appearances, and quietly finished with one of the finest rookie seasons in the NL in a year where there were a lot of them. I know that Yankee fans are happy with Luke Voit, but St. Louis' return might actually have been better.

Runner-up: RHP Josh Hader (Milwaukee Brewers)
Stat Line: 2.62 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 17.09 RE24, 138/20 K/BB in 75.2 innings
Hader as a bit inconsistent due to overuse, but when he was on, which was most of the time, he was un-hittable. I mean, who he heck strikes out 47.8% of their opponents, besting their previous year's mark of 46.7%? The answer is not many, because that 47.8% mark is the fourth best of all time, trailing only 2014 Aroldis Chapman (52.5%), 2012 Craig Kimbrel (50.2%), and 2017 Craig Kimbrel (49.6%). Of course, Hader's mid-summer slide inflated his ERA from 1.77 to 3.02 at one point as he allowed eleven earned runs in sixteen innings from July 1st to August 17th, but after taking a week off, he was back to his old self and allowed just three runs over his final 19 innings while striking out 32 against three walks. Hader's strongest stretch came from May to June, when he allowed just two runs over 26 innings (0.69 ERA) on just six hits and eight walks (0.54 WHIP) while striking out 46.

Others
RHP Kirby Yates (SD, 1.19 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 14.89 RE24, 101/13/60.2 K/BB/IP)
LHP Felipe Vazquez (PIT, 1.65 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 17.81 RE24, 90/13/60 K/BB/IP)
RHP Seth Lugo (NYM, 2.70 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 11.54 RE24, 104/16/80 K/BB/IP)

2018 Dugout Edge Regular Season Awards: Rookies, Managers, and Relievers

These awards are based on how I would assign them, not on how I believe they will end up. MVP's and Cy Young's were posted previously.

American League Rookie of the Year
Winner: Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Angels)
Hitting Stats: 22 HR, .285/.361/.564, 10 SB, 152 wRC+, 2.8 fWAR in 104 games
Pitching Stats: 4-2, 3.31 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 63/22 K/BB, 51.2 IP in 10 starts
Honestly, I don't think this race should be particularly close. Shohei Ohtani was clearly the superior rookie to me, generating more offensive fWAR than Miguel Andujar and adding more than 50 innings of above average pitching to roughly match Andujar's number of plate appearances/total batters faced. At the plate, Ohtani slashed .285/.361/.564 with 22 home runs for a 152 wRC+, the latter of which would have placed him fourth in the American League if he had qualified, right between Alex Bregman's 157 and Jose Ramirez's 147. As a pitcher, he posted a 3.31 ERA and a 63/22 strikeout to walk ratio over ten starts, including an absolute gem on April 8th when he tossed seven shutout innings on one hit, one walk, and 12 strikeouts against the A's. The numbers alone make him the best rookie in the American League, but if you put them in context and just think about how amazing the fact that he was pitching and hitting at All Star levels is, and it really should be no competition here.

Runner-Up: Joey Wendle (Tampa Bay Rays)
Stats: 7 HR, .300/.354/.435, 16 SB, 116 wRC+, 3.7 fWAR in 139 games
In the Ohtani-Andujar Rookie of the Year race, Joey Wendle didn't get nearly enough credit. An older rookie at 28, Wendle slashed .300/.354/.435 with 16 stolen bases and very good defense, impacting the game in very way except power. Even with only hitting seven home runs, he still knocked 33 doubles and six triples for a total of 46 extra base hits, good for third among AL rookies behind only  Miguel Andujar (76) and Niko Goodrum (48): pretty good for a guy where power is his worst attribute.

Honrable Mention: Miguel Andujar (New York Yankees)
Stats: 27 HR, .297/.328/.527, 2 SB, 128 wRC+, 2.7 fWAR in 149 games
I'm just not as high on Andujar as many people are, though you could make a very good argument to put him ahead of Wendle and it's pretty close in my book. He did still have a great season for a rookie. The 23 year old slashed .297/.328/.527 with 27 home runs and 47 doubles, his power stroke helping the Yankees get plenty of production out of what looked like a murky infield situation pre-season. He didn't get on base much, but the power was unmatched by any AL rookies outside of Ohtani. He also got better as the season went on and had his best month in August, slashing .320/.344/.623 with ten home runs in 30 games, again having difficulty getting on base but really showing off the power. On defense, he helped the Yankees just about as much as Ohtani did as a DH, as in not much.

Others
Gleyber Torres (NYY, 24 HR, .271/.340/.480, 6 SB, 120 wRC+, 1.9 fWAR)
Brad Keller (KC, 9-6, 3.08 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 96/50 K/BB)
Ryan Yarbrough (TB, 16-6, 3.91 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 128/50 K/BB)
Jaime Barria (LAA, 10-9, 3.41 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 98/47 K/BB)
Willy Adames (TB, 10 HR, .278/.348/.406, 6 SB, 109 wRC+, 1.3 fWAR)

National League Rookie of the Year
Winner: Ronald Acuna (Atlanta Braves)
Stats: 26 HR, .293/.366/.552, 16 SB, 143 wRC+, 3.7 fWAR in 111 games
This was a difficult decision because Ronald Acuna and Juan Soto had virtually identical seasons, with their OPS's (Acuna .917/Soto .923), wOBA's (.388/.392), and fWAR's (3.7/3.7) knotting them together. While they were essentially equal offensively (Acuna has the upper hand in power, Soto in on-base percentage/plate discipline), Acuna was the better defender. Fangraphs didn't like his defense, but Statcast gave him five outs above average to Soto's four below average. Add in his 16 stolen bases, and I think Acuna has just enough to beat Soto by a hair. The 20 year old finished his rookie year slashing .293/.366/.552 with 26 home runs and 16 stolen bases, heating up as the season went on and slashing .322/.403/.625 with 19 home runs and 14 stolen bases in 68 games after the All Star Break. In fact, in August, he slashed .336/.405/.698 with eleven home runs and six stolen bases in 30 games, a pace that would give him nearly 60 home runs and over 30 stolen bases over a full season. Regardless of where he stands with regard to Juan Soto, Ronald Acuna had a fantastic rookie year.

Runner-Up: Juan Soto (Washington Nationals)
Stats: 22 HR, .292/.406/.517, 5 SB, 145 wRC+, 3.7 fWAR in 116 games
As you can see from the stat line, Juan Soto had a very, very similar season to Acuna. While I think Acuna beats him by a hair, I want to go over just how incredible the year was. Soto missed all but 32 games of the 2017 season with injuries, then turned 19 that October. Since he had only played 29 games above complex league baseball (the lowest level of the minors), it made sense to start him at Class A Hagerstown and let him work his way up. 16 games and a .373/.486/.814 slash line later, he was at High A Potomac, where he slashed .371/.466/.790 over 15 games. Up at AA Harrisburg, a feat in and of itself considering his situation, he slashed .323/.400/.581 over eight games and found himself in the majors by May. In the majors, he still didn't stop mashing, slashing .292/.406/.517 with 22 home runs over 116 games. Perhaps even more incredible than the production was the plate discipline he showed, as evidenced by a 99/79 strikeout to walk ratio (20% to 16%). In fact, his 21.9% swing rate on pitches outside the zone was 14th best in baseball among players with at least 450 plate appearances, which is pretty cool in its own right but downright incredible when you consider he's a teenager who began the season in Class A. In the box, he looked as poised and professional as anyone on the field, though his defense and base running could definitely use some work.

Honorable Mention: Walker Buehler (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Stats: 8-5, 2.62 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 151/37 K/BB, 137.1 IP in 24 games (23 starts)
Walker Buehler was about as good as rookie pitchers get. Over 24 games (23 starts), he posted a 2.62 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP while striking out 151 and walking just 37 over 137.1 innings, good for a 27.9% strikeout rate and just a 6.8% walk rate. Component ratios like that tend to be sustainable, and while he wasn't Corey Seager or Cody Bellinger this year, Buehler is yet another great Dodger rookie. While he did have a tendency to get blown up from time to time, allowing at least four earned runs in five separate games, he closed the season on absolute lockdown mode, going 4-2 with a 1.55 ERA, a 0.85 WHIP, and an 87/23 strikeout to walk ratio over 75.1 innings from July 31st onwards. He held the Padres hitless for six innings on May 4th and limited the Cardinals to just four baserunners over eight shutout innings on September 14th, striking out nine in the process.

Others
Harrison Bader (STL, 12 HR, .264/.334/.422, 15 SB, 106 wRC+, 3.5 fWAR)
Jack Flaherty (STL, 8-9, 3.34 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 182/59 K/BB)
Brian Anderson (MIA, 11 HR, .273/.357/.400, 2 SB, 113 wRC+, 3.4 fWAR)
Dereck Rodriguez (6-4, 2.81 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 89/36 K/BB)
Joey Lucchesi (SD, 8-9, 4.08 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 145/43 K/BB)

American League Manager of the Year
Winner: Kevin Cash (Tampa Bay Rays)
Record: 90-72, .556 WPCT (3rd in AL East), 10 game improvement over 2017
I don't think anybody expected the Rays to win 90 games in the stacked AL East this year, but they did just that in Kevin Cash's first year as manager. The team won not by hitting for power (.406 slugging percentage was 17th in baseball), but by getting on base (.333 on-base percentage was third best) and by mixing up their pitching staff. They did so by famously employing the opener, starting many games with a reliever to get the opposing team's best hitters out before going to a starter for the longer run. The results were great; their 90 ERA- beat last year's 94 ERA- and was far better than 2016's 102 ERA-, and they got these results without burning anybody out. In fact, only two pitchers (Blake Snell and Ryan Yarbrough) threw more than 100 innings, and no true reliever threw more than 70 innings. Instead, ten different pitchers threw between 50 and 70 innings as the workload was evenly balanced out, and almost all were effective with only one posting an ERA above 4.65 (Jacob Faria at 5.40). Cash pioneered a change in baseball that I think will have a lasting impact on how teams try to win.

Runner-Up: Bob Melvin (Oakland Athletics)
Record: 97-65, .599 WPCT (2nd in AL West), 22 game improvement over 2017
While I stand by giving the award to Kevin Cash, Bob Melvin did a fantastic job in helping his team improve 22 games, going from last in the AL West to a Wild Card spot. The A's put up the fourth highest slugging percentage in the majors (.439) on the backs of Khris Davis (.549), Matt Chapman (.508), and Stephen Piscotty (.491). Melvin was able to bring out the best in his offense, and it paid dividends. On the pitching side, he also experimented (to a lesser extent) with the opener, and his team's 92 ERA- was significantly better than 2017's 109.

Honorable Mention: Scott Servais (Seattle Mariners)
Record: 89-73, .549 WPCT (3rd in AL West), 11 game improvement over 2017
Based on the fact that they scored 34 fewer runs than their opponents in 2018, the Mariners significantly over-performed on their win-loss record mostly due to their 36-21 record in one run games and 14-1 record in extra innings games. While that doesn't bode well for future, sustained success in Seattle, I think it reflects well on Servais's ability to manage in close games. I also think the 89 wins is pretty impressive for a team where, frankly, I don't think there was too much talent.

Others
Aaron Boone (NYY, 100-62)
Alex Cora (BOS, 108-54)

National League Manager of the Year
Winner: Brian Snitker (Atlanta Braves)
Record: 90-72, .556 WPCT (1st in NL East), 18 game improvement over 2017
Brian Snitker took a very young team coming off a 72-90 record and reversed it straight up to a 90-72 record. How young were the Braves? Touki Toussaint, who turned 22 in June, was the sixth youngest player to appear for the Braves this year, with four players being born in 1997. To be able to take a team that young and get this much success out of them is extremely impressive. Next year, I think the Braves will be even better.

Runner-Up: Craig Counsell (Milwaukee Brewers)
Record: 96-67, .589 WPCT (1st in NL Central), 9.5 game improvement over 2017
Craig Counsell was dealt an interesting hand, with baseball's deepest outfield and an infield that seemed somewhat mismatched. However, he handled it seemingly with ease, shuffling around his position players to get the right guys playing time while maintaining production. His team got hot at just the right time, winning their last eight games (including game 163) to win the NL Central. I think you could make a strong case for Counsell as the NL Manager of the Year.

Honorable Mention: Bud Black (Colorado Rockies)
Record: 91-72, .558 WPCT (2nd in NL West), 3.5 game improvement over 2017
Bud Black has done a great job turning Colorado into a pitching-oriented team, helping facilitate the rise of Kyle Freeland, German Marquez, Antonio Senzatela, Tyler Anderson, Scott Oberg, and more. I really don't think the Rockies' roster is *that* good, so to be able to squeeze so many wins out of a team with no offense and very young pitchers stuck pitching half their games in pitchers' hell is very impressive. If Rockies management ever got Black some hitters outside of Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, and Trevor Story, this could be a very good team going forward.

Others
Dave Roberts (LAD, 92-71)
Joe Maddon (CHC, 95-68)

American League Reliever of the Year
Winner: Blake Treinen (Oakland Athletics)
Stats: 0.78 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 38 SV, 100/21 K/BB, 80.1 IP in 68 appearances
Blake Treinen completely turned his career around when he was traded from Washington to Oakland in 2017. With a 5.73 ERA and an 18.9% strikeout rate pre-trade and a 2.13 ERA and a 26.9% strikeout rate post trade, he successfully made the long-awaited transition from thrower to pitcher. This year, he was off the charts: 0.78 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, and a 100/21 strikeout to walk ratio in 80.1 innings. He struck out 31.7% of those that he faced while walking just 6.7%, and he allowed just one earned run after July 21st. In fact, in those final 30.1 innings, he had a 0.30 ERA, a 0.56 WHIP, and a 36/3 strikeout to walk ratio. That's a 32.7% strikeout rate and a 2.7% walk rate if you're keeping track at home. 98 mile per hour diving two seamers will do that.

Runner-Up: Edwin Diaz (Seattle Mariners)
Stats: 1.96 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 57 SV, 124/17 K/BB, 73.1 IP in 73 appearances
Edwin Diaz finished with the second most saves (57) ever for a single season, but that's not why he ranked second on this list because personally, I don't care. What's more astounding is Diaz's 124/17 strikeout to walk ratio, which translates to a 44.3% strikeout rate and a 6.1% walk rate. Imagine for every time you go through the lineup, four of the nine hitters strike out. That was what facing Diaz was like this season, with the 44.3% rate leading the American League this year (min. 50 IP).

Others
Jose LeClerc (TEX, 1.56 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 85/25 K/BB, 57.2 IP)
Collin McHugh (HOU, 1.99 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 94/21 K/BB, 72.1 IP)
Chad Green (NYY, 2.50 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 94/15 K/BB, 75.2 IP)

National League Reliever of the Year
Winner: Josh Hader (Milwaukee Brewers)
Stats: 2.43 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 12 SV, 143/30 K/BB, 81.1 IP in 55 appearances
I find it just a but counter-intuitive to give this award to a pitcher with a 2.43 ERA, but Josh Hader was so good in every other facet of pitching that it had to go to him. While his ERA was a bit elevated in the realm of elite relievers, his 143/30 strikeout to walk ratio over 81.1 innings was absolutely incredible. His 46.7% strikeout rate (nearly half) not only led all of baseball (min. 50 IP), it was the fourth highest strikeout rate ever, behind only 2014 Aroldis Chapman (52.5%), 2012 Craig Kimbrel (50.2%), and 2017 Kimbrel (49.6%). In addition, by only allowing 36 hits and 30 walks, his WHIP was just 0.81. On April 30th, he had perhaps his best game of the season, striking out eight of the nine batters he faced (including Joey Votto), walking the other batter.

Runner-Up: Jeremy Jeffress (Milwaukee Brewers)
Stats: 1.29 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 15 SV, 89/27 K/BB, 76.2 IP in 73 appearances
The Brewers' bullpen was pretty good, wasn't it? Jeremy Jeffress bounced back from a down 2017 (4.68 ERA, 51/34 K/BB) to post his best season this year, finishing with a 1.29 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. His 89/27 strikeout to walk ratio led to a 29.8% strikeout rate and a 9% walk rate, but by keeping the hits from falling and especially limiting extra base hits (just 12 allowed all year), Jeffress kept the damage to a minimum even in the worst case scenarios, never allowing more than two runs in any of his 73 appearances. He even had a stretch from April 9th to May 27th in which he tossed 22.2 shutout innings on five hits, six walks, and 21 strikeouts for a 0.49 WHIP.

Others
Adam Ottavino (COL, 2.43 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 112/36 K/BB, 77.2 IP)
Kirby Yates (SD, 2.14 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 90/17 K/BB, 63 IP)
Sean Doolittle (WSH, 1.60 ERA, 0.60 WHIP, 60/6 K/BB, 45 IP)