Both before and after Félix Bautista’s season-ending elbow injury, several Orioles players, coaches and executives referred to him as the best closer in baseball.

Wednesday, he was recognized as the best in the American League as the recipient of the AL Reliever of the Year Award, named for Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera. Bautista is the second Oriole to win the honor since its introduction in 2014, following Zack Britton in 2016. A panel of former relievers — including Rivera and Trevor Hoffman, for whom the National League award is named — unanimously voted Bautista the AL winner, while Milwaukee’s Devin Williams became the fifth Brewer in six years to win on the NL side.

Bautista is the Orioles’ latest major award winner, with infielder Gunnar Henderson being the AL Rookie of the Year, Brandon Hyde being the AL Manager of the Year and general manager Mike Elias being the MLB Executive of the Year.

The 28-year-old right-hander was dominant before tearing the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow in late August, an injury that prompted Tommy John elbow reconstruction, which will force him to likely miss all of 2024. In 61 innings, the massive right-hander, aptly nicknamed “The Mountain,” posted a 1.48 ERA and recorded 33 saves. Despite missing the final month-plus of the season, his 110 strikeouts led all relievers, and his 46.4% strikeout rate was the sixth highest of any qualified reliever in major league history. He was the AL Reliever of the Month for April, June and July.

Bautista, a first-time All-Star in his second major league season, provided Hyde with a shutdown option at the end of games. Bautista recorded five multi-inning saves. Four times on the road, Hyde brought Bautista into a tied game in the bottom of the ninth, then sent him back out for the 10th inning after Baltimore scored in the frame’s top half; each time, Bautista stranded the automatic runner at second base to finish off an Orioles victory.

Bautista struck out multiple batters in 38 of his 56 outings and allowed multiple earned runs in an appearance only once. That one game, a four-run blown save against the Houston Astros in early August that nearly doubled his ERA, spoiled what had been a dark horse campaign for the Cy Young Award, a possibility his injury further hampered. But Bautista was still the only reliever in either league to appear on multiple ballots for the award.

Bautista’s path to this honor was not a simple one. He originally signed with the Miami Marlins out of the Dominican Republic as a 17-year-old, but after walking nearly a batter per inning across two seasons, he was released. The Orioles signed Bautista more than a year later, and in his first five years with the organization, he continued to struggle with his control and didn’t pitch above A-ball.

He starred with three Baltimore affiliates in 2021, cracking the Orioles’ opening day roster the next year months before his 27th birthday. The pairing of his high-velocity fastball and diving splitter quickly proved capable of baffling major league hitters, and after the Orioles traded closer Jorge López that August, Bautista assumed the role. He carried it into 2023 and improved in almost every significant metric.

Bautista will have to wait until 2025 to build on this year’s success. Among the Orioles’ top offseason priorities is adding a back-end reliever who might be able to handle the ninth inning in Bautista’s absence. The club also has internal options; four pitchers who earned a save after Bautista’s injury project to be back on Baltimore’s pitching staff next season.

But as Wednesday’s honor shows, Baltimore has the challenge of replacing one of baseball’s best relievers.

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