NEW YORK — Pitchers Tim Hudson of the Braves and Francisco Liriano of the Twins have been the voted the comeback players of the year.
Hudson had elbow ligament-replacement surgery in 2008 and was limited to just seven starts the following season. But the right-hander went 17-9 with a 2.83 ERA this year to win the NL award and help Atlanta reach the postseason.
Liriano had a career-high 14 wins for Minnesota this season and will start Game 1 of the AL playoffs against the New York Yankees on Wednesday night. The 26-year-old lefty missed the entire 2007 season following elbow-ligament replacement surgery and was limited by injuries each of the previous two years.
The awards were voted on by the 30 beat writers of MLB.com and announced Tuesday.