The Astros used Enyel De Los Santos and Bennett Sousa in the ninth inning of tonight’s 7-6 win over the Red Sox, which immediately raised eyebrows since closer Josh Hader hadn’t pitched since Friday and was seemingly fresh. After the game, manager Joe Espada told reporters (including Matt Kawahawa of the Houston Chronicle) that Hader was unavailable due to what Espada described as “discomfort” in Hader’s left shoulder.
Hader was undergoing testing on his shoulder and more will be known once the results of those scans are in, but for now, the Astros and their fans can only hope that the closer has avoided a significant injury. Losing Hader would be a massive hit to an Astros team trying to stay ahead of the surging Mariners in the AL West race.
Now in his second season of a five-year, $95MM free agent contract, Hader wasn’t quite as dominant as usual in 2024, as a spike in home runs and hard-hit ball rate led to a 3.80 ERA over 71 innings. Things have been more normal this year, as Hader has a 2.05 ERA over 52 2/3 innings, and posted a set of impressive Statcast metrics to go along with his sparkling ERA. Hader’s 7.8% walk rate is noteworthy, as it represents his first above-average number in that category since the 2019 season. As always, Hader is generating a ridiculous amount of swing-and-miss, sitting in the 99th percentile of all pitchers in strikeout, whiff, and chase rates.
In his previous game on Friday, Hader threw a season-high 36 pitches over two innings of work, getting the win in the Astros’ ten-inning 5-3 result over the Yankees. He has topped the 30-pitch threshold just four times in 48 games this season, and only seven times pitched more than a single inning. With this in mind, it could be that Hader is just a little sore in the aftermath of that longer outing in New York, and needs a bit more recovery time.
Houston’s pen is deep enough in quality arms that the club should be able to withstand a brief absence for Hader, as any of Sousa, Steven Okert, Bryan King, or Bryan Abreu could step into the closer’s role. The Astros have had one of the best bullpens in baseball this year, though obviously Hader has been a big factor in the relief corps’ excellence.
Oh crap!
Yeah another “lite tosser.”
Like the guy in the dirigible says in ” The Mummy Returns”, ” Well that’s not good”!
Ruh Ro Raggy
I hope hader does ok, but… this would be a huge twist regarding the AL west standings…
Really? The mariners have been predicted to win the west for at least 5 games now
Yeah, and the Yankees were predicted to win the AL East not long ago, and now they are 1 game away from being out of the third wild card spot.
August 2023 we were leading by a game and predicted to win the division, then September happens and miss the playoffs
“Hader wasn’t quite as dominant as usual in 2024, as a spike in home runs and hard-hit ball rate led to a 3.80 ERA over 71 innings. ”
“spike in…hard-hit ball rate”
Hader BABIP last 4 seasons (highest to lowest)
.333
.264
.230
.202
One stands out. That wasn’t last year though. The harder hit balls didn’t lead to more hits on balls in play.
How about homeruns?
“as a spike in home runs ”
Hader HR/FB last 4 seasons (highest to lowest)
15.8%
15.1%
12.3%
5.8%
No real “spike” here. Just one outlier down season.
FB rate last 4 seasons (highest to lowest)
60
52
47
47
There is some change there, which could have led to a few more HR allowed in 2024.
“wasn’t quite as dominant as usual in 2024”
Hader xFIP- last 4 seasons (highest to lowest
80
74
74
71
Which of these is the less dominant season? Not 2024.
Josh Hader K%-BB% last 4 seasons (highest to lowest)
29%
29%
27%
24%
One kinda stands out. Wasn’t last year, though.
I don’t see anything about him being hit harder that lead to the worse ERA. Anyone?
What could it be?
Hader LOB% last 4 seasons (highest to lowest)
89%
87%
69%
67%
Ahh. There it is. Sequencing. Instead of distributing baserunners evenly over his outings, they were bunched up which allows runs to score. This is usually luck.
He looked just as dominant last year as he has recently. IMHO
If I recall correctly Hader got off to a bad start last season and then hit a couple of rough patches during the season. The uneven performance may have led to the impression he was hit harder last year.
HS
To show that last season doesn’t stand out
Name a P who pitches too much whose arm DOESN’T explode. I’ll wait.
HHS
I hate when people do what they think is in their best interest
Especially in an industry that rips them off for the first 6 years of their career.
Good for Hader
There is a significant reason why he refused to pitched more than one inning. Obviously you don’t know. The front office of that team went into arbitration hearing with him and trashed him for the multiple innings, saying that only his closing innings mattered and anything else was a detriment to his ability to close. That pissed him off so he refused to do anything other than the closing inning as that’s all the team was interested in paying for.
Hulk – Sorry none of us ever hears about players refusing to do something unless their name is Devers.
Nolan Ryan
Welcome to every didgruntled comment on tbe internet.
Iron Arm Joe McGinnity
AA on the line with rasael igesias. Not Julio inglesias
All the relievers he loved before. Got it.
Karma is a b
Karma for what?
Ruh roh.
It’s probably being an a-hole to say how fortunate it is he protected his arm in 2023. I definitely won’t do that.
This Mariners fan knows that Hader being out would be a huge advantage for them. Still, it always sucks to see a dominant pitcher go down.
In Milwaukee Boras and him issued a formal document called the “Hader rules” It stated he could not pitch more than one inning/pitch count/must be the ninth, for example. Dude knew back then and just wanted to get paid first. That document is also a big part of the reason he was traded mid-season.
Jeremy
“Dude”
Was protecting his arm.
Good.
He was getting paid a quarter or a half of what he was worth. He should do everything possible to minimize injury.
Sucks pretty bad that do many people support work places over workers.
He was making $18.5m in his arb4 year. He signed with Houston for $19m/yr. My suspicion is he knew his arm was going to blow out and was stretching it long enough for somebody to give him a bag.
Jeremy
“He was making $18.5m in his arb4 year. ”
He made 687,000 in 2019, the year before the Hader Rules
He made $4.1 million in 202 after arbitration
I overestimated. He was making between around 4% and 25% of his actual worth.
“was stretching it long enough for somebody to give him a bag.”
Since teams ripped him off for his first 5 years, good!
Hader was not / is not a Boras client.
Karma for making a business and not the joy of the game. Before everyone jumping on me remember the guy wouldn’t do 4 out saves even in playoffs. Shouldn’t let Rosenthal be in team decisions. He is an agent
stubby
“Karma for making a business and not the joy of the game”
It IS a business
Surprisingly enough ESPN, of all places, has a decent article on what happened
share.google/TJeb4pVp6HlAkTpOa
Read the whole article but
“Hader was eligible for salary arbitration for the first time. What he had done on the mound was largely unprecedented, but Berry, needing a comparable performance in history, cited Jonathan Papelbon’s one-year, $6.25 million deal as a closer with the Boston Red Sox in 2009. Berry asked for $6.4 million in arbitration for Hader. The Brewers offered $4.1 million.
…
Berry knew that meant MLB’s case would be based on Hader’s low volume of saves — the primary currency for relievers in free agency — in his first 2½ seasons
…
The lawyers working on behalf of the Brewers and MLB’s labor relations department — which typically drives arbitration recommendations to the teams, with the team carrying the right to act on its own — focused on the saves, in spite of how Milwaukee deployed Hader.
…
“What I heard in that room was how they valued relievers,” Hader recalled, “and it was 100% based on saves.”
…
“”My first thought was: ‘You can’t have it both ways,'” Berry recalled. “You can’t say he’s the best and use him any way you want, and then not pay him like the best. You can’t throw up your hands and say, ‘That’s the way it is.'”
He presented his idea to Hader while the two played a round of golf: If the Brewers were going to fight the All-Star over his salary, then they would design rules to protect him. Berry had never heard of another pitcher dictating his own usage, but he also had never had a pitcher used as Hader had been. Berry proposed three new rules for Hader to present to the front office: He would not pitch more than two days in a row; he would not pitch more than three outs; he would pitch only in a save situation or when the score was tied.”
Read the whole article
Hader got jobbed by MLB’S pay structure
Then he got jobbed by the arbitration process
So, be took matters into his own hands. He made sure he got saved and tried to protect his arm
Good for him
Hey Derek, you know what’s good for shoulder pain?
We know that in the HOU organization, which downplays all injuries, shoulder discomfort = shredded rotator cuff. But he’ll only be out for a brief stint = 6-8 weeks.
Joe Espada said after the game last night that the discomfort was due to dehydration from not drinking enough Haderade.
Welcome back, Ryan Pressly
The Brewers continue to dodge big contracts and pitchers blowing out their arms, with Burnes and Hader coming to mind.
Also got rid of the clown show called Willy Adames, and we still have the best record in baseball.
Gee, what a shame.
Some of it usage.
Teams shouldn’t take a 1 inning pitcher then push him 2 without a buildup.
That was a mistake letting Hader go 36 pitches. Asking for it.
Oh no, who’s gonna play percussion now in the dugout?
I always find it disturbing that these guys warm up multiple times a game. Before they even come in they have thrown a game full of pitches. Limit warm up and down activities or just let the pitcher warm up on the main mound and go from there. A pitch is a pitch be it to a bullpen catcher or game one.