While Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob Latz may not have been in the top three, he ended up receiving 10 votes for the American League Reliever of the Year.

This was the first year that the Baseball Writers' Association of America had a Reliever of the Year award, something that many thought was long overdue.

Louis Varland ended up winning what was a very tight race between himself, Cade Smith, and Bryan Baker.

Aroldis Chapman, Josh Hader, and David Bednar all finished above Latz, though the Rangers reliever ended up with seven fourth-place votes and three fifth-place votes.

To see him getting this kind of recognition among baseball's best is an incredible sign. His 17 points may not look like much compared to the top three vote-getters, who all had 100+, but at the end of the day this further proves that the Rangers are in good shape as he's still under team control.

There weren't a ton of regular season awards that went the Rangers' way, but Latz at least put up a fight in the first-ever Reliever of the Year poll.

The 30-year-old posted a 2.13 ERA and 0.81 WHIP. His WHIP was incredible, to say the least, and he was tied for 10th with his 30 saves.

Latz appeared in a career-high 58 games, going 3-4 in his 72.0 innings. While he appeared in the most games of his career, by far, his 72.0 innings were below the 85.2 he threw last season.

Remember, the Rangers had him start eight of the 33 games he appeared in during the 2025 season. 

Here in 2026, Latz started just one game. He was a 2.6 WAR player this year, and his K/BB ratio rose from 2.1 to 3.6.

Overall, it's been incredible to see his progression as he continues to blossom into a future superstar. Latz had a 1.51 WHIP in 43.2 innings back in 2024. In '25, he dropped that to 1.24, and it sat at the aforementioned 0.81 here in '26.

In total, Latz received the second-most fourth-place votes, only trailing Chapman, who had eight.

With this only being the first installment of the award, it'll be interesting to see if Latz is able to improve on his 17 points going into next season. 

The BBWAA ballot saw six other players receive fewer votes than Latz, including Garrett Whitlock, whom they incorrectly identified as a Rangers player.