Wheeler and Alvarez earn comeback player awards

Philadelphia pitcher Zack Wheeler was voted National League (NL) Comeback Player of the Year and Houston designated hitter Yordan Alvarez earned the American League (AL) honor on Wednesday night.

Alvarez was also picked for the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award, ending a streak of five straight wins by Shohei Ohtani. Alvarez and Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs won Hank Aaron Awards as the most outstanding offensive performers.

San Diego’s Mason Miller was selected as the Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year and Tampa Bay’s Bryan Baker as the Mariano Rivera AL Reliever of the Year.

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler pitches during a baseball game on Sept. 22 in Philadelphia.

Photo: AP

Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander was voted executive of the year for the second time following his win in 2019.

Wheeler, a 36-year-old right-hander, was 14-5 with a 3.00 ERA in 28 starts, striking out 193 and walking 47 in 162 innings. He was 10-5 with a 2.71 ERA in 24 starts last year, when he did not pitch after Aug. 15 and had thoracic outlet decompression surgery.

Alvarez, 29, won his first AL batting title, hitting .316 with 42 homers, 106 RBIs and a 1.033 OPS over a career-high 158 games. He was limited to 48 games last year because of a broken right hand and sprained left ankle.

Voting was conducted by MLB.com’s 30 team beat writers.

Others receiving NL votes included Miami right-hander Sandy Alcantara, Cincinnati reliever Tejay Antone, Padres infielder Ty France, Atlanta outfielder Michael Harris II, Pittsburgh right-hander Jared Jones, Milwaukee outfielder Garrett Mitchell and Arizona left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez. Others getting AL votes included New York Yankees right-handers Paul Blackburn and Gerrit Cole, Cleveland and Washington pitcher Foster Griffin, Tampa Bay left-hander Shane McClanahan and Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout.

Voters for the MLB reliever awards included Hoffman, Rivera, fellow Hall of Famers Rollie Fingers and Billy Wagner, and John Franco, Joe Nathan and Troy Percival. Earlier in the day, Miller and Toronto’s Louis Varland won the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s inaugural Relievers of the Year awards.

Balloting for the Designated Hitter award was by team beat writers, broadcasters and public relations departments. Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies was second for the second straight season.