Sale wins Comeback Players of the Year for Crochet, top relievers for Clase, top relievers for Helsley, and top DH for Ohtani

LAS VEGAS – Left-handers Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves and Garrett Crochet of the Chicago White Sox were named Major League Baseball’s Comeback Players of the Year on Thursday.

Cleveland right-hander Emmanuel Clase won his second AL Reliever of the Year Award and earned a home run against the St. St. Louis right-hander Ryan Helsley won the NL award.

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani joins David Ortiz as the only players to win four consecutive Outstanding Designated Hitter Awards. Ohtani and the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge won Hank Aaron Awards as the outstanding offensive players in their league.

Major League Baseball made the announcements at the All-MLB Awards Show.

Sale, 35, went 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts in 177 2/3 innings, capturing the NL’s first triple crown since Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2011. He earned his eighth All-Star selection and the first since. 2018.

Sale helped lead Boston to the 2018 World Series title but made just 56 starts from 2020-23, going 17-18 with a 4.86 ERA, 400 strikeouts and 79 walks in 298 1/3 innings. He was acquired by Boston from the Chicago White Sox in December 2016 and made nine trips to the disabled and injured list with the Red Sox, mostly due to shoulder and elbow ailments. he had Tommy John surgery He returned to the major league mound on March 30, 2020 and on August 14, 2021.

Sale’s ribs were broken While pitching in batting practice during the management lockout in February 2022. In his second start he Broke his left little finger on July 17 when he was hit by the bat of Aaron Hicks of the New York Yankees. Sale broke his right wrist while cycling He ends his season on Aug. 6 as he heads to lunch.

The 25-year-old Crochet was 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA over 32 starts for a White Sox team that set a post-1900 record of 121 losses and was a first-time All-Star. He struck out 209 and walked 33 in 146 innings.

He underwent Tommy John surgery on April 5, 2022 and returned to the major leagues on May 18, 2023. Crochet had a 3.55 ERA in 13 relief appearances in 2023 and then joined the rotation this year.

Sale and Crochet were selected in a vote by MLB.com’s top writers.

Clase and Helsley were selected unanimously by a panel that included Hall of Fame members Trevor Hoffman, Mariano Rivera, Dennis Eckersley and Rollie Fingers, as well as John Franco and Billy Wagner. The AL award is named after Rivera, and the NL award is named after Hoffman.

Clase, a three-time All-Star, was 4-2 with a 0.61 ERA, 66 strikeouts and 10 walks in 74 1/3 innings, holding batters to a .154 average. The 26-year-old made 47 of his 50 save chances, including the last 47.

Voting was based on the regular season. Clase went 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in the playoffs and allowed three home runs, one more than his regular season total.

Helsley, a two-time All-Star, went 7-4 with a 2.04 ERA and 49 saves in 53 chances. He struck out 79 and walked 23 in 66 1/3 innings.

Ohtani became the first player to have 50 or more homers and 50 or more stolen bases in a season. Ohtani, a two-way star limited to batting after elbow surgery, batted .310 and led the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs while stealing 59 bases.

Ortiz won the DH award five years in a row from 2003-07.

The DH award, named after Edgar Martinez, is determined by voting by writers, publishers and public relations departments. MLB.com writers determined the finalists for the Aaron awards, and fan voting was combined with selections from a panel of Hall of Famers and former winners to determine the selections.

Judge hit .322 while leading the major leagues with 58 homers and 144 RBIs.

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