Milwaukee Brewers Josh Hader is Dominating Once Again
The Milwaukee Brewers bullpen has been a strength of the club for years now. While some of the set-up relievers have changed throughout the years, the one constant has been Josh Hader at the end of the bullpen. While Hader has been dominant for years, this year he has taken his ability to close out games to a ridiculous level.
The numbers for Hader thus far are eye popping and largely speak for themselves.16 appearances, 16 saves, and no runs allowed in 14.2 innings.
Not allowing any runs in over 14 innings is impressive by itself, but even then it does not tell the whole story of just how commanding Hader has been in the ninth inning of games. Thus far, Hader has faced 54 batters and only nine have managed to reach base—three from hits (one of which was an infield hit) and six from walks. This gives Hader a WHIP of 0.61, which is 7th in the majors out of pitchers who have thrown at least 10 innings.
What is interesting is that the peripherals for Hader are largely the same as previous years. He is throwing the same pitch arsenal, all with similar velocities and movement as in recent seasons. A rise in strikeouts is not the cause of Hader’s dominance either. In fact, Hader is actually striking batters out at a lower rate than his 2019 and 2021 seasons.
The key to Hader’s success has been simply limiting hard contact. Batters have a hard hit percentage of just 15.4% when facing Hader, and he has allowed just two line drives so far.
The biggest key to his success has been his ability to keep the ball on the ground. Hader has a ground ball percentage of 38.5% which would be by far the highest of his career. Keeping the ball on the ground allows the Milwaukee Brewers’ fantastic defense to make plays,as they are first in the majors in defensive runs saved.
What would it take for Hader to win another Cy Young for the Milwaukee Brewers?
Hader’s unbelievable season thus far does bring up the question of what would it take for Hader to win the Cy Young award?
By looking at previous elite years from relievers, we can get a good sense of if Hader has a shot. In 2008, Francisco Rodriguez broke the single season save record with a whopping 62 saves and posted a 2.24 ERA and finished third in Cy Young voting. That same year, Mariano Rivera had a 1.40 ERA in 70.2 innings pitched and finished fifth.
In 2016, Zach Britton had what many consider to be one of the greatest seasons ever from a reliever. In 67 games, Britton led the majors with 47 saves and an incredible 0.54 ERA, only allowing four earned runs the entire year. Britton finished fourth in Cy Young voting.
While it would be fun to see, it would be almost impossible for Hader or any other reliever to win Cy Young. Voters simply place more value in starters who throw three times more innings than relievers do. In order to win Cy Young, it would probably take not allowing a run for the entire year and throwing at least 80 innings, which is extremely unlikely. Regardless, if Hader keeps going at this pace, he will certainly receive votes at the end of the season.
Hader has solidified himself as one of the greatest relievers of all time, and is having another historic season. It is now up to the Milwaukee Brewers offense to continue to put Hader in spots where he can come in the game with a lead and close the door.