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The Houston Astros made a huge investment into a superstar closer and the returns so far have not lived up to expectation.
ESPN's Buster Olney recently released his latest ranking of the Top 10 relievers in baseball. In the past, Josh Hader was a lock to be included. After a down year in his Astros debut, he was dropped into the "honorable mention" section.
Houston signed Hader to a massive five-year, $95 million contract before the season began. Ryan Pressly, now with the Chicago Cubs, had done a fine job as their closer in the past, but they were looking to that role to the next step.
Hader was an easy choice to be that guy. His time with the Milwaukee Brewers had ended poorly, but he bounced back with another stellar year with the San Diego Padres.
In 2023, he looked like his vintage self with a 1.28 ERA and his fifth All-Star nod in six seasons. It makes sense as to why the Astros thought he could come in and immediately be the anwer to their worries, but that wasn't the case.
The Maryland native had flashes of his normal self at times, but was just wildly inconsistent.
He would put together solid months like May and August where he had a 1.35 and 0.68 ERA respectively.
Then, he would also have months like April, July and September where he had at least a 5.00 ERA and had a 6.00+ ERA in two of those months.
For a team trying to make a push into the postseason, that simply won't do. Paying a closer $19 million a season should come with some sort of ease of mind that he will be able to close out games with some regularity.
Interestingly enough, though, Hader didn't lead the team in blown saves. He wasn't even the second-most.
Pressly and Bryan Abreu, the two setup men, had a combined 15 blown saves. Hader himself had four with 34 saves.
Houston did lose 19 games that he pitched in, though, which is a number they will hope to improve upon this season.
During their 2022 World Series run with Pressly at the closer spot, they lost just seven games. Some sort of middle ground the two should be realistic.
The Astros bullpen as a whole was solid last year. If Hader can return to his elite ways, it could realistically be in the conversation for the best in the league.
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