The Baseball Writers Association of America will begin handing out its annual awards next week and the Phillies have several finalists.
Manager Don Mattingly, starting pitcher Cristopher Sanchez and closer Jhoan Duran are all in the final three in their respective categories.
Mattingly is a finalist for the National League Manager of the Year award. He took over the Phillies as interim manager when the team was 9-19 on April 28. Under Mattingly, the Phillies had the fourth-best record (79-55) in the majors the rest of the season and earned the third NL wild-card playoff spot. Mattingly was awarded a two-year contract in October.
Milwaukee’s Pat Murphy, who won the award the last two years, and Atlanta’s Walt Weiss are the other finalists for the award. Murphy is considered the favorite after his small-market Brewers led the majors with 103 wins during the regular season and won the franchise’s first World Series title. Voting for all BBWAA awards is done before the postseason begins.
After missing the playoffs for the first time in seven years in 2025, the Braves won the NL East in 2026, Weiss’ first year at the helm.
Mattingly previously won the NL Manager of the Year Award with Miami in 2020. He finished second while leading the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2013.
The Manager of the Year Award will be announced next Tuesday.
The NL Cy Young Award will be announced next Wednesday and Sanchez is a finalist for the second year in a row. Last year, he finished second in the voting to Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes. This year, Sanchez is a finalist along with Milwaukee flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski and Atlanta lefty Chris Sale.
Misiorowski is considered the favorite. The right-hander led the majors with a 1.80 ERA and 252 strikeouts in 30 starts. Sale finished second in the NL with a 2.16 ERA.
Sanchez tied for the major-league lead with 18 wins. He was sixth in the NL with a 2.91 ERA and second with 207 innings pitched. His season was highlighted by a franchise-record 50 2/3 innings scoreless streak from April 30 to June 3. The streak was the fifth-longest in major-league history and longest ever by a left-hander.
The NL Reliever of the Year Award will also be announced on Wednesday. Duran is a finalist along with San Diego’s Mason Miller and Milwaukee’s Trevor Megill.
Miller led all NL relievers with a 1.67 ERA and 129 strikeouts in 70 innings. He tied for the league lead with 38 saves, blowing only three. Duran was second among qualifying NL relievers with a 1.82 ERA. He converted 33 of 35 saves chances. Megill converted 30 of 33 save chances and also had seven holds.
Award announcements start Monday with the Rookie of Year Awards and conclude next Thursday with the Most Valuable Player Awards.
