It hasn’t exactly been a smooth transition from Milwaukee to San Diego for Josh Hader.
The San Diego Padres acquired him for left-hander Taylor Rogers at the trade deadline and his ERA immediately skyrocketed thanks to some uncharacteristically bad outings.
After recording a 1-2-3 inning on August 2 in his Padres debut, things quickly went south for Hader, so much so that he lost the closer’s role.
But last night, he may have taken a step in the right direction.
The left-hander had a 1-2-3 ninth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks and recorded his first home save with his new team as the Padres held off Arizona by a final of 6-3.
Hader Comes Through
This is a huge first for Hader.
Nobody would have expected that it would take this long for him to have a save at Petco Park.
At long last, he has one.
It certainly hasn’t been an easy go of it for Hader since being traded.
The trade probably shook him just as much as it shook the Milwaukee Brewers.
It sometimes takes a little while to adjust to your new surroundings.
But if Hader has finally figured it out, then he’s done so at the perfect time as the Padres try to expand their lead over the Brewers for the final NL Wild Card spot and put them away.
The move was made in an attempt to strengthen the Padres bullpen.
While the early results weren’t pretty, there’s no time like the present for Hader to have finally figured it out and gotten himself going again.
We’ll see if that can be a momentum builder for the former NL All-Star and Reliever of the Year Award Winner.
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