Left-handers Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves and Garrett Crochet of the Chicago White Sox won the Major Comeback Player of the Year awards.
Right-hander Emmanuel Clase won the American Reliever of the Year title for a second time and St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Ryan Helsley took home the honor in the National.
Shohei Ohtani joined David Ortiz as the only players to win the Designated Hitter award four times in a row. Ohtani and New York Yankees star Aaron Judge won the Hank Aaron Award for their offensive performances.
MLB made the announcement at its Awards Show.
Sale, 35, went 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts in 177 2/3 innings to win the Nationals’ first Triple Crown since Clayton Kershaw in 2011. He was also elected to the All-Star Team for the eighth time, a first since 2018.
Sale helped Boston win the World Series in 2018 but made just 56 starts from 2020-23, going 17-18 with a 4.86 ERA. He was acquired by Boston from the Chicago White Sox in 2016 and was placed on injured reserve nine times with the Red Sox, primarily for shoulder and elbow injuries. He had Tommy John surgery on March 30, 2020 and returned to the Majors on August 14, 2021.
Sale fractured a rib while throwing in practice in February 2022. On July 18, in his second start, he fractured the little finger of his left hand when he was hit by an arrow from the stick of ‘Aaron Hicks. Sale fractured his right wrist while cycling on August 6 to end the season.
For his part, Crochet is 25 years old and he was 6-12 in 32 starts with the White Sox, a team that set a mediocrity record for most losses since 1900 with 121 losses. Crochet struck out 209 times and allowed 33 walks in 146 innings.
He had Tommy John surgery on April 5, 2022 and returned to major league action on May 18, 2023. Crochet had a 3.55 ERA in 13 appearances in 2023, before rejoining the rotation This year.
Sale and Crochet were chosen by MLB.com writers.
