Editing Relief pitcher (section)

==Awards given to relievers==

The [[Major League Baseball Reliever of the Year Award]] and [[The Sporting News Reliever of the Year Award]] are annually voted on and presented to relievers, with the former being split by league into the "[[Trevor Hoffman]] NL Reliever of the Year Award" and the "[[Mariano Rivera]] AL Reliever of the Year Award". The former equivalent award for both leagues combined until 2012, the [[Rolaids Relief Man Award]], was determined by a statistical formula.

Compared to starting pitchers, most relievers (with the except of closers with large save totals) receive few awards and honors.<ref name="Rancel">{{cite news|last=Rancel|first=Tommy|title=Set-up guys who would be worthy All-Stars|date=June 24, 2013|work=ESPN.com|url=https://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/37360/set-up-guys-who-would-be-worthy-all-stars|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019194431/http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/37360/set-up-guys-who-would-be-worthy-all-stars|archive-date=October 19, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Historically, setup men were rarely selected to [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|MLB All-Star Game]]s, with the relievers selected usually being closers.<ref name="Rancel"/> A setup man has never won the [[Cy Young Award]] or the [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award]]; the highest placements in these respective awards have been achieved by Rivera, who finished third in the voting for the [[American League]] (AL) Cy Young Award and twelfth for the AL MVP in 1996, and for the next season he was promoted to closer.<ref name=96cy>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1996.shtml#ALcya|title=1996 Awards Voting|work=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=January 9, 2012}}</ref> Middle reliever [[Andrew Miller (baseball)|Andrew Miller]] became the first relief pitcher other than a closer to win a [[League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award]] when he was voted the [[2016 ALCS]] MVP.

Setup pitchers typically make less than the MLB average salary.<ref>{{cite book|title=Fireman: The Evolution of the Closer in Baseball|first=Fran|last=Zimniuch|pages=[https://archive.org/details/firemanevolution0000zimn/page/154 154, 168]|publisher=[[Triumph Books]]|location=Chicago|year=2010|isbn=978-1-60078-312-8|ref=zimniuch|url=https://archive.org/details/firemanevolution0000zimn/page/154}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Felber |first=Bill |title=The Book on the Book: An Inquiry Into Which Strategies in the Modern Game Actually Work |page=102|year=2006 |publisher=[[St. Martin's Griffin]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-HZ3xF7DT7IC&q=setup%20man&pg=PA102 |isbn=978-0-312-33265-5 |access-date=January 5, 2011}}</ref> Relief pitchers further down the line may be [[Journeyman (sports)|journeymen]] as their individual performances may vary greatly (often specialised to pitch against certain types of batters, such as to right-handed batters only or left-handed batters only), even though their team's relief pitching staff as a whole is overall effective.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23781702/the-cleveland-indians-bullpen-proves-baseball-gods-cruel|title = Cleveland's bullpen proves the baseball gods are cruel|date = July 11, 2018}}</ref>

The rising importance placed on relief pitchers is evident in the rising star power of the closer. It has gotten to the point where closers are among the biggest stars in the game, with status and salaries on par with starting pitchers. When closers play at home, and when they are called into the game to preserve a lead for the crucial last inning or those last couple of outs, many of them trot in from the bullpen to the pitchers mound accompanied by a theme song of their choice. For many years with the [[Yankees]], Rivera entered the game accompanied by [[Metallica]]'s "[[Enter Sandman]]" booming over Yankee Stadium's sound system. When [[Jonathan Papelbon]] was with the [[Red Sox]], his entry song was the [[Dropkick Murphys]]' "[[I'm Shipping Up to Boston]]", and Hoffman entered to the tune of [[AC/DC]]'s "[[Hells Bells (song)|Hells Bells]]".<ref>Baseball Explained by Phillip Mahony, McFarland Books, 2014. See [http://www.baseballexplained.com www.baseballexplained.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813034018/http://www.baseballexplained.com/ |date=August 13, 2014 }}.</ref>

Nine pitchers are currently in the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Baseball Hall of Fame]] chiefly for their accomplishments as relief pitchers: [[Hoyt Wilhelm]], [[Rollie Fingers]], [[Dennis Eckersley]], [[Bruce Sutter]], [[Goose Gossage]], [[Trevor Hoffman]], [[Lee Smith (baseball)|Lee Smith]], [[Mariano Rivera]], and [[Billy Wagner]]. Eckersley, who was considered the first modern closer pitching exclusively in ninth inning situations, also had a significant career as a starting pitcher and even threw a [[no-hitter]] in 1977. Another pitcher entering the Hall in {{Baseball Hall of Fame Year|2015}}, [[John Smoltz]], was primarily a starter, but spent four seasons as a reliever.

[[Jim Konstanty]] in 1950 was the first reliever to win the MLB MVP Award after a then-record 74 games, 16–7&nbsp;[[Win–loss record (pitching)|record]], 22&nbsp;saves, and a 2.66&nbsp;[[ERA (baseball)|ERA]].<ref>[[#zimniuch|Zimniuch 2010]], p. 28.</ref> [[Mike Marshall (pitcher)|Mike Marshall]] in 1974 was the first reliever to win the Cy Young Award after a record 106&nbsp;games, 15–12&nbsp;record, 21&nbsp;saves, and 208&nbsp;[[innings pitched]].<ref>[[#zimniuch|Zimniuch 2010]], p. 84.</ref> In 1992, Eckersley was the first modern closer (first player to be used almost exclusively in ninth inning situations)<ref name=zimniuch_p169>[[#zimniuch|Zimniuch 2010]], p.169</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-relievers042610|title=MLB on Yahoo! Sports - News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games|website=Yahoo Sports}}</ref><ref name=jenkins>{{cite news |last=Jenkins |first=Chris |title=Where's the fire? |date=September 25, 2006 |newspaper=[[The San Diego Union-Tribune]] |url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060925/news_1s25saves.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628203118/http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060925/news_1s25saves.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 28, 2011}}</ref> to win the Cy Young, and since then only one other relief pitcher has won the Cy Young, [[Éric Gagné]] in 2003 (also a closer). Three relief pitchers have won both the MVP and Cy Young Awards in a single season; Fingers in 1981, [[Willie Hernández]] in 1984, and Eckersley in 1992.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ Relievers who have won the [[Jackie Robinson Award|Rookie of the Year Award]]
|-
! Year !! League !! Player !! Team
|-
| 1976 || National || [[Butch Metzger]] || [[San Diego Padres]]
|-
| 1980 || National || [[Steve Howe (baseball)|Steve Howe]] || [[Los Angeles Dodgers]]
|-
| 1986 || National || [[Todd Worrell]] || [[St. Louis Cardinals]]
|-
| 1989 || American || [[Gregg Olson]] || [[Baltimore Orioles]]
|-
| 1999 || National || [[Scott Williamson]] || [[Cincinnati Reds]]
|-
| 2000 || American || [[Kazuhiro Sasaki]] || [[Seattle Mariners]]
|-
| 2005 || American || [[Huston Street]] || [[Oakland Athletics]]
|-
| 2009 || American || [[Andrew Bailey (baseball)|Andrew Bailey]] || [[Oakland Athletics]]
|-
| 2010 || American || [[Neftalí Feliz]] || [[Texas Rangers (baseball)|Texas Rangers]]
|-
| 2011 || National || [[Craig Kimbrel]] || [[Atlanta Braves]]
|-
| 2020 || National || [[Devin Williams (baseball)|Devin Williams]]
|| [[Milwaukee Brewers]]
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ Relievers who have won the [[Cy Young Award]]
|-
! Year !! League !! Player !! Team
|-
| 1974 || National || [[Mike Marshall (pitcher)|Mike Marshall]] || [[Los Angeles Dodgers]]
|-
| 1977 || American || [[Sparky Lyle]] || [[New York Yankees]]
|-
| 1979 || National || [[Bruce Sutter]] || [[Chicago Cubs]]
|-
| 1981 || American || [[Rollie Fingers]] || [[Milwaukee Brewers]]
|-
| 1984 || American || [[Willie Hernández]] || [[Detroit Tigers]]
|-
| 1987 || National || [[Steve Bedrosian]] || [[Philadelphia Phillies]]
|-
| 1989 || National || [[Mark Davis (pitcher)|Mark Davis]] || [[San Diego Padres]]
|-
| 1992 || American || [[Dennis Eckersley]] || [[Oakland Athletics]]
|-
| 2003 || National || [[Éric Gagné]] || [[Los Angeles Dodgers]]
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ Relievers who have won the [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award]]
|-
! Year !! League !! Player !! Team
|-
| 1950 || National || [[Jim Konstanty]] || [[Philadelphia Phillies]]
|-
| 1981 || American || [[Rollie Fingers]] || [[Milwaukee Brewers]]
|-
| 1984 || American || [[Willie Hernández]] || [[Detroit Tigers]]
|-
| 1992 || American || [[Dennis Eckersley]] || [[Oakland Athletics]]
|}