Mason Miller of the San Diego Padres won the inaugural Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) National League Reliever of the Year award for the 2026 season. CBS Sports writer Matt Snyder detailed the reasoning behind his ballot, which ranked Miller first, followed by Jhoan Durán (Phillies), Adrián Morejón (Padres), Trevor Megill (Brewers), and Mason Montgomery (Pirates).
Snyder emphasized that he ignored win‑loss records and team performance, focusing instead on run prevention (ERA, FIP, xFIP), keeping runners off base (WHIP), strikeout ability, workload, save conversion, win probability added (WPA), and wins above replacement (WAR). He also considered the "eye test" — how imposing a reliever appears when entering a game.
Key statistical comparisons
Miller led NL relievers in ERA (1.67), xERA, FIP, xFIP, and strikeouts (129, 16.6 K/9, 47.4% K rate). Durán ranked second in ERA and FIP metrics, while Morejón threw 86 innings — the highest workload among the top candidates. Megill posted a 0.97 WHIP (second) and converted 30 of 33 save chances. Montgomery struck out 37.7% of batters faced. Brandyn García (51⅓ IP) and Abner Uribe also featured prominently in underlying numbers.
Advanced metrics and final ordering
FanGraphs WAR placed Miller at 3.7, Durán 2.9, Morejón 2.8, and Megill 2.5. Baseball‑Reference WAR gave Durán the edge (3.4) over Miller (3.1). In WPA, Miller led at 4.56, followed by Uribe (3.49), Morejón (3.23), and Montgomery (2.86). Snyder ultimately favored Durán's high strikeout rate and run prevention for the second spot, valued Morejón's heavy workload for third, and separated Megill and Montgomery by slightly better peripheral numbers. Uribe and García were the difficult omissions from the five‑slot ballot.
