Over the years, the Houston Astros have been known to look at their bullpen as a strength. Names like Dave Smith, Billy Wagner, and Brad Lidge roll off longtime fans’ tongues easily. Well, make room for Josh Hader among those well-known stoppers.
Hader added another notch to his Astros’ highlight reel on Wednesday night. He came into a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Astros were looking to sweep the Tampa Bay Rays. In the top of the 10th inning, Mauricio Dubon’s clutch single scored Pedro Leon for a 2-1 Astros lead. Hader went back out for a second inning and sealed the deal.
Houston Astros Like Josh Hader’s Work
Observant Houston Astros watchers know about Hader’s career with the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres. Nicknamed “Haderade,” he’s put up impressive numbers throughout his Major League Baseball time. Through Wednesday’s game, he’s 25-27 with a 2.62 ERA and 191 career saves. This season, Hader is 5-6 after picking up a win to help the Astros sweep the Rays.
But Josh Hader signing a five-year, $95 million deal with the team hasn’t always been a smooth situation. Astros manager Joe Espada told reliever Ryan Pressly that he was being moved out of his closer role. That didn’t suit too well early on with Pressly or his devoted fans.
And Hader wasn’t fooling hitters over a stretch this season. His usual pop on a fastball or slider just looked flat and hittable to opposing batters. Hader’s ERA was more on the upper level. Criticism poured over him and Espada, with some Astros voices (namely fans) wanting Pressly back in his previous role.
Nevertheless, Espada stood his ground with Hader. Statistics show that Hader has turned up the heat, recording outs left and right. In his last 15 appearances, he’s 2-1 with a 1.76 ERA and 11 saves. He’s just given up three hits and three earned runs in 15 1/3 innings of work. Hader has walked seven while striking out 21.
Why did Josh Hader sign with the Astros? It had to do with seeing how much success the organization has been having in the past decade. This includes World Series titles in 2017 and 2022.
“When you’re on the field you can see when a team is gelling well and that’s something that we wanted to be a part of,” Hader said in an interview with MLB Network prior to the season. “The biggest thing- win a World Series. The Houston Astros have done that…”
The fireballing left-handed reliever also picked up some heat for not wanting to pitch a lot of innings. Yet Hader has been willing to go more than one inning, like on Wednesday, when Espada needed it. With 26 saves in 54.1 innings this season, he’s planted his reliever flag into the ground for the Astros.
Astros Back Home, Face Chicago White Sox
The Astros take Thursday off before starting a three-game series at Minute Maid Park against the Chicago White Sox. Riding an eight-game winning streak, Houston is coming home after going 8-1 in its recent road trip. That covered winning two of three against Texas, followed by sweeps in Boston and Tampa Bay.
Spencer Arrighetti (5-10, 5.14 ERA) is slated to start on Friday night against the Chicago White Sox’s Garrett Crochet (6-9, 3.65 ERA). Houston has a chance to extend its winning ways against the White Sox, who are having a horrible season record-wise. This might be an opportunity for outfielder-designated hitter Yordan Alvarez to pad his statistics. The same can be said of third baseman Alex Bregman, who looks to get back in the swing of things. He’s been scalding the ball in recent at-bats, aside from his 0-for-4 game on Wednesday night.
In some Astros injury news, starting pitcher Justin Verlander is set to make another rehab start on Thursday night. He’s due to take the mound for Double-A Corpus Christi. Outfielder Kyle Tucker, who’s been working hard to come back from a shin contusion, spent some time in the outfield at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. His return timeline for the Astros is still up in the air.
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