Closer Emmanuel Clase of the Cleveland Guardians has been voted the American League Reliever of the Month for September, and closer Ryan Helsley of the St. Louis Cardinals has been named the National League Reliever of the Month for September. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Clase collected his seventh career award after previously winning earlier this year in May and July and in September/October 2022; August 2022; June 2022; and August 2021. He has claimed all but one of the Guardians’ eight Reliever of the Month awards, with Cody Allen being the only other reliever to win in April 2017. His seven career Reliever of the Month Awards are tied with Josh Hader for second-most all-time behind only Edwin Díaz’s eight awards. Helsley claimed his third career honor after previously winning earlier this year in March/April and June. He is the first Cardinals reliever to win the award in its current form (since 2015). Prior to Helsley, Ryan Franklin (August 2009) and Jason Isringhausen (May 2006) were both named Delivery Man of the Month.

Emmanuel Clase, Cleveland Guardians (@emmnauelclase31)
• The 26-year-old posted a 0.00 ERA (0 ER/11.0 IP), converting all seven of his save opportunities across 11 appearances in which he allowed four hits with two walks, 11 strikeouts, a 0.55 WHIP, a .111 opponents’ batting average and 9.00 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
• The Dominican Republic native’s eight saves were tied for fourth-most in the Majors and the Guardians were 10-1 when he toed the rubber, only losing in the regular season finale on Saturday against Houston. He retired 17 consecutive batters in between a single from Luis Robert Jr. on September 11th and a leadoff walk to TJ Friedl on September 25th
• The 2022 Mariano Rivera AL Reliever of the Year converted 34 consecutive saves to finish out the year after blowing a save on May 19th against Minnesota, marking the longest streak of his career. It is the second-longest streak in Cleveland’s franchise history behind a 38-game streak from José Mesa which spanned the 1994-95 seasons.
• The three-time All-Star entered the month with 150 career saves under his belt, surpassing Cody Allen (149 saves) on August 30th for the most in franchise history. His 158 saves are fourth-most since his debut in 2018, trailing Hader (187); Kenley Jansen (179); and Raisel Iglesias (159), while Clase’s 133 saves since the start of 2022 are the most in the Majors.
• After tallying 42 saves in 2022 and 44 saves in 2023, the right-hander is the only closer in Guardians’ history with three seasons of at least 40 saves. He is the third closer in Baseball history with at least three seasons of 40-or-more saves prior to his 27th birthday, joining Craig Kimbrel and Francisco Rodríguez, who each had four such seasons prior to turning 27.

Ryan Helsley, St. Louis Cardinals (@ryanhelsley14)
• The 30-year-old went 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA (0 ER/8.2 IP), converting seven of his eight save opportunities in which he allowed four hits with no walks, 15 strikeouts, a 0.46 WHIP, a .138 opponents’ average and 15.58 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
• The Oklahoma native was one of five qualified relievers to not allow a walk last month, joining Robert Garcia; Ian Hamilton; Hoby Milner; and Justin Slaten.
• The two-time All-Star entered the month with 42 saves on the year and with his save on September 25th at Colorado, he tied Trevor Rosenthal’s single-season franchise record of 48 saves, before breaking the record with his 49th save of the year on Friday at San Francisco. His 49 saves are the most since Edwin Díaz had 57 saves in 2018 with Seattle and Helsley became the 17th pitcher (20th occurrence) to finish the year with at least 49 saves.
• The right-hander’s 49 saves led the Majors as he appeared in a career-high 65 games, becoming the first Cardinals closer to lead the Majors in saves since Hall of Famer Lee Smith in 1991 (47 saves). He had 23 saves which featured a 1-2-3 inning, setting a St. Louis franchise record to surpass Smith’s previous record of 19 1-2-3 saves in 1992.
• The fifth-round selection in the 2015 MLB Draft did not allow an earned run over his final 17 appearances of the season, dating to August 7th. During the stretch, he went 3-0 across 17.2 innings of work, allowing 10 hits with three walks and 24 strikeouts. St. Louis went 8-0 when he toed the rubber in September and were 59-6 when he appeared in a game this season, winning each of his last 19 appearances since August 3rd.

Others receiving votes for NL Reliever of the Month included Devin Williams (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 10 G, 6/6 SV, 10.0 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 18 SO) and Aaron Ashby (1.98 ERA, 9 G, 13.2 IP, 11 H, 1 BB, 20 SO) of the Milwaukee Brewers; Edwin Díaz (1-1, 1.93 ERA, 13 G, 5/6 SV, 14.0 IP, 9 H, 5 BB, 26 SO) of the New York Mets; Joe Jiménez (1.98 ERA, 14 G, 0/1 SV, 13.2 IP, 6 H, 5 BB, 23 SO) of the Atlanta Braves; Blake Treinen (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 11 G, 11.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 13 SO) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Aroldis Chapman (0-1, 5.40 ERA, 11 G, 9/10 SV, 10.0 IP, 11 H, 3 BB, 14 SO) of the Pittsburgh Pirates; and Jason Adam (1.32 ERA, 14 G, 0/1 SV, 13.2 IP, 6 H, 6 BB, 10 SO) of the San Diego Padres.

Others receiving votes for AL Reliever of the Month included Kirby Yates (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 10 G, 8/8 SV, 9.1 IP, 1 H, 4 BB, 10 SO) of the Texas Rangers; Luke Weaver (3-0, 1.50 ERA, 9 G, 4/4 SV, 12.0 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 25 SO) of the New York Yankees; Daniel Lynch IV (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 9 G, 17.1 IP, 8 H, 5 BB, 22 SO) and Lucas Erceg (0-1, 3.18 ERA, 10 G, 6/6 SV, 11.1 IP, 8 H, 1 BB, 15 SO) of the Kansas City Royals; Jason Foley (0-2, 3.09 ERA, 14 G, 9/10 SV, 11.2 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 11 SO), Tyler Holton (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 9 G, 2/2 SV, 12.0 IP, 2 BB, 11 SO), Brant Hurter (4-0, 1.59 ERA, 5 G, 22.2 IP, 17 H, 3 BB, 17 SO) and Sean Guenther (2-0, 0.63 ERA, 11 G, 0/1 SV, 14.1 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 9 SO) of the Detroit Tigers; Clase’s bullpen mate Cade Smith (0.79 ERA, 11 G, 11.1 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 16 SO) of the Guardians; and Prelander Berroa (1-0, 1.80 ERA, 12 G, 15.0 IP, 10 H, 10 BB, 18 SO) of the Chicago White Sox.