Clase, Hedges among Cleveland BBWAA honorees

This story was excerpted from Mandy Bell’s Guardians Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Let’s put one final bow on awards week.

Stephen Vogt already took home the AL Manager of the Year honors from the entire Baseball Writers' Association of America, but the Cleveland chapter met this week to hand out Guardians-specific awards. On Sunday, two first-time winners were announced.

Closer Emmanuel Clase was named this year’s Bob Feller Man of the Year, while the Frank Gibbons-Steve Olin Good Guy Award was given to catcher Austin Hedges.

The votes this year were ridiculously close. Clase just eked out José Ramírez and Steven Kwan as the Man of the Year. Josh Naylor, who won the award last year, also received a nomination for this category. And the Good Guy Award prompted a revote after a tie between Hedges and Matthew Boyd. Ultimately, Hedges came out on top. Vogt and David Fry also received nominations.

We’ve talked a lot about Clase the last few weeks. How couldn’t we? He found a way to the top three of the AL Cy Young voting as a reliever, which hadn’t been done since 2008. It was just reassurance, as if any of us needed it, that his regular-season performance was as elite as we thought it was.

He set the franchise record for most saves in just his fourth year pitching for the Guardians. He gave up just five earned runs in 74 1/3 innings (which equates to a sparkling 0.61 ERA) with just 10 walks. He got his second All-Star Game save deep in the heart of Texas in July. He played a large role in why Cleveland went 82-0 during the regular season when entering the ninth inning with a lead. He blew just three save opportunities before the playoffs began. And 15 of his 74 appearances were nine pitches or fewer. Oh, and let’s not forget that he took the ball in four consecutive games on two separate occasions.

It’s hard to have a better season than that.

Ramírez was as steady as he always is. Kwan was otherworldly when he was healthy and carried that all through the playoffs. It was just difficult to imagine that the Guardians could’ve had the level of success they had without Clase in the ninth inning.

And then there’s the Good Guy.

This award focuses mostly on a person’s relationship with the media, and those who are the most considerate and reliable are often honored. It’s probably not shocking to anyone reading this, but Hedges personifies that to a T.

For a young clubhouse, someone with these characteristics is crucial. Hedges is a player who is willing to gas up every teammate around him, no matter what happened on the field that night. He’s always willing to be the one to speak on behalf of the team when things are going poorly and has no problem owning mistakes when he makes them.

He’ll quickly take the blame for a pitcher giving up a homer and will never put a teammate down. Most of the time, he did this night after night with the media and never waned in enthusiasm.

Boyd was similar. His unprecedented genuine nature caused him to stand out among everyone in the clubhouse -- player, staffer, media member or any living being. He was the man consoling his teammates and coaches after the Guardians were eliminated in the American League Championship Series after only being with the team for two months.

When he first joined the club, he went out of his way to introduce himself to each media member in the room and was always willing to talk whenever needed. Hedges’ dedication to this craft all season long helped him get the edge, but the Cleveland chapter of the BBWAA wanted to make sure Boyd was recognized, too.