Houston Astros Superstar Ties Impressive Feat of Franchise Legend

Heading into this season, the Houston Astros were viewed as the favorites in the American League once again after they decided to go past the luxury tax threshold by handing Josh Hader the most lucrative contract for a closer in Major League Baseball history.

Despite losing three of their prominent relievers in free agency, having the elite left-hander paired with Ryan Pressly and Bryan Abreu on the backend gave the impression that they would have one of the best bullpens in the sport.

That didn't quite happen at the start.

Pressly was struggling to adjust to his new role, Abreu's ERA was inflated, and Hader was showing some cracks when called upon that wasn't present the previous year.

While the Astros' starting pitching injuries were garnering much of the attention, their bullpen was also not performing up to their standard.

Fast forward to now and this unit is finally showing their high-end potential. Quietly, they have worked their way back into the top 10 of bullpen ERA, holding a 3.65 that has them ranked No. 9 in the league.

Much of that has to do with how effective Hader has been.

Following Houston's 3-2 comeback victory over the Tampa Bay Rays that moved them to 57-52 on the year and into first place of the AL West standings entering Saturday, the superstar closer also put himself into some very good company with his new franchise.

Hader closed out the game to give himself 22 saves on the year.

That was also his 22nd in a row, tying him with legendary Astros closer Billy Wagner for the second-most consecutive saves in franchise history.

He now only trails Brad Lidge's mark of 24 in a row.

It's even more impressive Hader hit this mark considering his very first save opportunity this season was blown against the Toronto Blue Jays way back on April 2 when he gave up a two-run homer in the ninth inning to Davis Schneider.

Since then, he's been lights out.

His first save with Houston came five days later against their in-state rival Texas Rangers. He hasn't looked back, completely shutting the door on teams when he's called upon for save situations.

If he can eventually catch the franchise record will be seen, but Hader is clearly showing why he was money well spent at this point in time.