Late to the party but here are my thoughts on Hader.
I am sure I am not the first to track something like this for a reliever, but here is some data on Hader. Did you do your job?
- 25/38 (66%) = 0 Runs scored, 26/38 (68%) = 0 ER Job Done!
In the games (13) where runs have been given up
7 (54%) Meaningless Started ahead and stayed ahead1 (7%) Still Meaningless Started down and stayed down.4 (31%) Blew a tied game Started tie and got down.1 (7%) Blew a lead Started ahead and got down.In the grand scheme of things, 5 of the 38 (13%) games were impactful bad performances and you can really only hand 1 loss on him.
Knocks on Hader before the signing were refuses to pitch multiple innings & doesn't want to pitch back-to-back games.
- 4 (11%) times he's pitching multi innings
- 5 (13%) times he's pitched back to back games.
Of those 5 "impactful bad performances" 2 of them we're Hader in an unfavorable situation (1 multi inning, 1 back to back game).
Since the calendar turned to May (59 game window), he's only had 2 of those "impactful bad performances". Most of his issues seemed to have been worked out. I think one of those were pitch mix. He hasn't thrown the change up since May and he's relying on the sinker more.
Overall, am I worried about Hader? Not really. He's got nasty stuff, he's been mostly effective, and he's still near the top of the leaderboard in several key metrics including xERA/xwOBA. I think there has been an effort to pitch more to contact. Seems crazy for a guy with 99% whiff%, but he's throwing in the zone 49.8% (highest since 2019), first pitch strikes 59.4% (highest since 2021), and generating more swings 52.7% (highest since 2021). I think that's a tactic to get through the grind of a season. Come postseason, he might be a little more fine. I think we all agree that was the main reason we added him. To give else a edge in October.
