August 13: Espada provided a vague yet ominous update today. Hader is seeking a second opinion on his shoulder and will be on the IL beyond the minimal stint. “This is going to take a little bit longer than the two weeks,” he said, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.
August 12, 11:59 pm: Espada says he won’t name a new closer in Hader’s place, suggesting he will instead take a mix-and-match approach to filling the late innings (per Kawahara).
4:14 pm: Espada tells the Astros beat that Hader will receive additional testing (link via Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle). The team has not yet ascertained the severity of the strain and thus do not have a firm timeline on his potential return.
3:15 pm: The Astros announced that closer Josh Hader has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a left shoulder strain. An immediate timetable for his return was not revealed. Houston recalled lefty Colton Gordon from Triple-A in a corresponding roster move. The Astros also reinstated righty Shawn Dubin from the injured list and opened a roster spot by designating veteran reliever Hector Neris for assignment.
Remarkably, this is the first time Hader has ever been placed on the major league injured list (excepting a brief 2021 placement on the Covid-related IL). He’s not only been one of the sport’s most dominant relievers but also its most durable reliever. Dating back to Hader’s midseason debut in 2017, only Raisel Iglesias (who spent the entire ’17 season in the majors) has more innings pitched. (Somewhat ironically, Neris ranks third among all relievers in innings pitched during that time.) From 2018-25, only two innings separate Iglesias (466 2/3) and Hader (464 2/3) for the MLB lead.
After an up-and-down first year with Houston in 2024, Hader has been back to his typically dominant self in 2025. He’s totaled 52 2/3 innings and worked to a 2.05 earned run average while piling up 28 saves and punching out an outstanding 36.9% of his opponents against a quality 7.6% walk rate. Hader’s sinker is averaging 95.5 mph, down about a half-mile from last season, and he’s throwing his slider more than ever before — at a 41.4% clip. His colossal 21.1% swinging-strike rate is tied with Mason Miller for tops among all big league pitchers — starters and relievers alike — with at least 10 innings pitched this season.
Hader is in the second season of a five-year, $95MM contract he signed as a free agent in the 2023-24 offseason. It’s the second-largest contract ever for a reliever, both in terms of total guarantee and average annual value, trailing only Edwin Diaz (in both regards). That contract pays him an evenly distributed $19MM annually from 2024-28.
As for the 36-year-old Neris, he’s pitched for the Astros, Angels and Braves this year but struggled with all three. The right-hander has pitched a combined 26 2/3 innings with just a 6.75 ERA to show for it. Much of the damage against him came early in the season with Atlanta, but Neris posted a 5.14 with the Angels and is at 5.40 in 11 2/3 frames during what’s been his third stint as a member of the Houston bullpen.
While Neris has never exactly been a flamethrower, this year’s 92.4 mph average four-seamer is a career-low, falling shy of last year’s career-low 93 mph average. The 92.6 mph he’s averaging on his sinker is also a career-low. Neris is generating fewer whiffs, chases and grounders than ever before on his go-to splitter as well.
Since the trade deadline has passed, the Astros’ only course of action with Neris will be to place him on outright waivers or release waivers. They’re effectively the same thing for a player in Neris’ situation at this point, as he has the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency anyhow and is quite likely to do so. If another club can get the veteran righty back on track, he’d be postseason-eligible with that new team so long as he was signed prior to Sept. 1.
With Hader on the shelf and Neris off the roster, the Houston bullpen will now look to righty Bryan Abreu as its anchor. He’s the immediate favorite to pick up saves in Hader’s place. Lefties Bryan King, Bennett Sousa and Steven Okert all have a 3.10 ERA or better on the season and figure to collect the majority of setup opportunities while Hader is out.
Since the Astros don’t have another shutdown righty beyond Abreu, it’s at least possible that Abreu could see work in the eighth inning if the Astros’ opponent has a run of tough righties, which would thus leave the ninth inning for one of that trio of lefties. That said, both King and Okert have been terrific against both righties and lefties. That gives manager Joe Espada plenty of options late in the game, but the loss of Hader is nonetheless a crucial blow as Houston tries to fend off a surging Mariners club that has rattled off seven straight wins to pull within one game of the AL West lead.
Third time wasn’t the charm for Neris in Houston. Maybe back to Atlanta to finish the season…
Astros helped him get his 10 years of service and then let him go.
How noble of them.
I saw that during Monday’s game. Very classy of HOU to do that for Neris.
You give a reliever 5 years and you’re bound to get burned sooner or later.
It’s a big ask to expect any pitcher to stay healthy for five whole years.
Give any pitcher a 5 year contract. I wouldn’t give any pitcher over 3 years.
Especially pitchers that make 60+ appearances most years.
Rsox – When you give up consecutive extra base hits to Toro (HR), Rafaela (2B) and Yoshida (2B) you know you’ve hit rock bottom.
Nerris just got his 10 years, maybe they were just throwing him a bone!
Exactly
As a footnote, Nerris was the only player to EVER be an Astro 3 separate occasions.
I guess re-signing with the same team after hitting free agency doesn’t count? Otherwise Verlander is another three-timer.
Actually Jon Singleton was/is too.
It looks like Hector Neris can finish out the season with the Minnesota Twins. Perhaps he is the “player to be named later” that should have accompanied the trade of Carlos Correa to Houston?
Damn
Probly most elite CL of our generation
This sounds rly bad
Aroldis??
The rule of thumb when the Astros actually admit a player is injured is to multiply what they’re saying by three, and there you have the actual severity.
Wonder how this will play out for Houston?
Won’t name a closer…..but Abreu pitches the high leverage spots whenever he is available. So basically Abreu is the closer then.
True, but isn’t Souza second on the team with 4 saves?
You are ignorant. Better check under your bed to make sure your white hood is still under there
Gotta be painful to be holding a 14 years long grudge against a 17 y.o. for posting dumb shiet that a 17 y.o. post.
I was previously a Joe Estrada detractor. But the fact the Astros are still in contention with the number of injuries they have had is amazing. Let’s see if they can keep it up without Hader though. Good luck
2nd opinion usually means “You are F’d. See you in 2027”.
Have to think he was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff. I shredded mine in college and opted not to have surgery. Only took 15 years for it to heal naturally, but I could throw harder than ever after that.
With this training/medicial staff they will likely misdiagnose it and he’ll be back in 2027.
If it’s a shoulder injury that requires surgery, I don’t think he’ll be back until 2027 regardless of the quality of the medical staff.
Looking at recent Astro star injuries; Kyle Tucker was said to have a shin bruise ended up being a fracture. Same thing happened this year with Yordan Alvarez. It was a hand strain that turned out to be a fracture. So when the Astros say shoulder strain, you really don’t know what that means.
Another thought. Maybe it would be a good idea to let Mr. Fragile himself, Lance mcCullers go all out for an inning as the set up man for Bryan Abreu. I can’t see there be a need for any more evidence that he is not durable enough to be a starter