Trevor Hoffman Rolaids Relievers Award
- Kenley Jansen
- Seung Hwan Oh
- Mark Melancon
With a 3.2 WAR to lead all MLB relievers, Jansen’s 13.63 K/9 coupled with a 1.44 BB/9 led the strong righty to a 1.83 ERA and 47 saves. Only seven bullpen pitchers had a higher K/9, but out of the seven, only Andrew Miller also had a better BB/9.
Seung Hwan Oh led all NL relief pitchers with 2.19 win probability added. With an impressive 76 appearances and 79 ⅔ innings, Oh achieved a sub 1.00 WHIP and sub 2.00 ERA for the entire season.
Mark Melancon continued his consistent excellent work at the back of the pen for the Pirates and then Nationals in 2016. Melancon’s 297 games since 2013 out of the bullpen are second only to Bryan Shaw, and his 290 innings are second only to former teammate Tony Watson. With a 1.80 ERA over the past four years, Melancon is the only pitcher in all of baseball to pitch more than 242 innings with a sub 2.00 ERA.
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Lewis Award
Similar to E-Jax, it is not clear how Carlos Villanueva continues to get MLB work. I am convinced they created a secret formula while pitching together in the Cubs bullpen back in 2014. The Dominican righty actually did have a solid year in St. Louis in 2015, but there was no reason for him to continue taking innings from Padres youngsters with his 5.96 ERA in 2016.
Former starter Tony Cingrani struggled throughout the year as a part-time closer, and it seems 2017 could be his last shot at remaining in the team’s plans. Teammate Josh Smith was equally bad, with a 5.29 FIP in 32 games.