Congratulations are in order for Oakland Athletics Relief Pitcher Liam Hendriks, who was named to the MLB 2020 All-MLB First Team.
The man called “HercuLiam”, scored yet another honor, to rack up a slew of them. The exploits of the A’s closer were best summed up by Alex Hall over at AthleticsNation:
The nod for Hendriks comes as no surprise. He made the Second-Team in 2019, and then was even better this past summer in the short season. He converted 14 of his 15 save opportunities, lowered his ERA from 1.80 to 1.78, struck out 37 batters to only three walks, and then put up a couple of legendary performances in the postseason. His 1.14 FIP this year is the seventh-best in MLB’s entire Modern Era (since 1900) in 20 innings or more.
Hendriks, 2020: 1.78 ERA, 25⅓ ip, 37 Ks, 3 BB, 1 HR, 1.14 FIP, .227 xwOBA
In addition to this All-MLB placement, Hendriks also won the 2020 AL Reliever of the Year award, he tied for ninth in AL Cy Young voting, and he was the only Oakland player to receive AL MVP votes, finishing tied for 13th.
It must be noted that Hendriks is the Oakland Athletics 2017 Roberto Clemente Award nominee and Dave Stewart Community Service Award winner.
Here’s the full list, courtesy, Major League Baseball:
First Team
C: Salvador Perez, Royals
1B: Freddie Freeman, Braves
2B: DJ LeMahieu, Yankees*
SS: Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres
3B: Manny Machado, Padres
OF: Mookie Betts, Dodgers
OF: Mike Trout, Angels
OF: Juan Soto, Nationals
DH: Marcell Ozuna, Braves*
SP: Shane Bieber, Indians
SP: Trevor Bauer, Reds*
SP: Yu Darvish, Cubs
SP: Max Fried, Braves
SP: Jacob deGrom, Mets
RP: Liam Hendriks, A’s*
RP: Nick Anderson, Rays
Second Team
C: J.T. Realmuto, Phillies*
1B: José Abreu, White Sox
2B: Brandon Lowe, Rays
SS: Corey Seager, Dodgers
3B: José Ramírez, Indians
OF: Ronald Acuña Jr., Braves
OF: Mike Yastrzemski, Giants
OF: Michael Conforto, Mets
DH: Nelson Cruz, Twins*
SP: Dinelson Lamet, Padres
SP: Gerrit Cole, Yankees
SP: Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
SP: Kenta Maeda, Twins
SP: Hyun Jin Ryu, Blue Jays
RP: Brad Hand, Indians*
RP: Devin Williams, Brewers
Stay tuned and congratulations to Liam Hendriks.