Sports

Baltimore Orioles closer Felix Bautista wins American League Reliever of the Year Award

November 29, 2023 / 6:40 PM EST / CBS Baltimore

Felix Bautista named AL Reliever of the Year

BALTIMORE - Baltimore Orioles closer Félix Bautista is a unanimous winner of the Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year Award.

Bautista, a 28-year-old right-hander, was 8-2 with a 1.48 ERA and 33 saves in 39 chances for the AL East champion Orioles. He made his final appearance on Aug. 25 and had Tommy John surgery on Oct. 9, which likely will cause him to miss the 2024 season.

Cleveland's Emmanuel Clase was second in the AL after winning last year and Toronto's Jordan Romano was third.

Bautista is the second Orioles player to win the award, joining left-hander Zack Britton in 2016.

He led MLB relievers with 110 strikeouts, the third-most by an O's reliever in team history (since 1954), and struck out multiple batters in 38 of his 56 outings, the most multi-strikeout games in MLB this season.

Adam Thompson

Adam Thompson is a digital content producer for CBS Baltimore.