Astros Star Closer Has Impacted Winning Nearly As Much As Any Player in Baseball

The Houston Astros are back on top of the American League West entering play on June 18 with a record of 42-31 despite some major obstacles that have had to be overcome.

Injuries have hit the Astros hard with several key players currently on the shelf.

There is an entire starting rotation on the injured list with Spencer Arrighetti, Hayden Wesneski, Ronel Blanco and Lance McCullers Jr. joining J.P. France, Cristian Javier and Luis Garcia, who are dealing with long-term injuries from last year.

More News: Astros Mounting Injury Woes Should Greatly Concern Team Moving Forward

Designated hitter Yordan Alvarez has not been in the lineup since May 2 because of a hand injury. Their major free agent addition, Christian Walker, has been a flop thus far, creating some major voids in the lineup.

Luckily, Houston has received some heroic efforts from a few players to help offset all of the underwhelming performances.

Shortstop Jeremy Pena has taken his game to another level, looking poised to be an All-Star for the first time in his career and a dark horse AL MVP candidate.

More News: Astros Minor League Infielder Wins Weekly Award After Exceptional Performance

Starting pitcher Hunter Brown has emerged as a legitimate ace and will be in the mix to be the starter for the AL All-Star Team. He will be doing battle with Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal for that honor and in the AL Cy Young Award race.

But there is one player on the Astros roster who has impacted winning more than those two; closer Josh Hader.

As shared by Thomas Nestico on X, the dominant lefty is actually one of the most impactful players in baseball when it comes to Win Probability Added.