Houston Astros Superstar Closer Performing at Highest Level in Years

The Houston Astros made a big move before the 2024 campaign to sign star closer Josh Hader in free agency.

As the San Diego Padres looked to shed payroll, they opted not to re-sign Hader, then a five-time National League all-star, and the Astros braintrust made a strong five-year, $95 million offer to lock up an elite closer for the next half decade.

Unfortunately for Houston, that's not what happened last year.

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Hader was solid by Major League standards, but not quite himself, posting a 3.80 ERA, driven largely by a failiure to induce ground balls and avoid barrels, ranking in the bottom 10 percent among all pitchers in those areas.

In 2025, those issues have faded far into the rear view mirror.

Hader owns a 1.29 ERA and a 0.750 WHIP, the latter of which is by far the best mark of his career. He's struck out 43 opposing hitters in 28 innings of work, as well.

According to Baseball Savant, Hader has also drastically reduced his barrel rate and hard-hit rates allowed, as he's now above average in barrel rate in the 59th percentile, and the barrels he does allow are not being turned into hard-hit balls, where he is in the 98th percentile.

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Of the balls put in play against him, 38.8% qualified as hard hit in 2024 compared to just 26.4% this year.

The clearest difference that could be driving this is a re-balancing of his pitch mix.

Last season, he threw his sinker 71% of the time and his slider 27% of the time. He's completely re-worked it now, with hitters getting the sinker on just 54% of his offerings and his slider at a 40% clip.

Both pitches are elite offerings, but the peripherals on the slider are a clear step ahead in terms of expected batting average and slugging against.

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The other positive factor is the fact that he is spinning both pitches at a higher rate, generating more movement and deception to ensure that his whiff and chase rates remain high.

Hader proved his worth again on Saturday in a 5-3, 10-inning win over the Cleveland Guardians, as he worked out of some trouble in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to the 10th, where a two-spot gave his team the win.

As Hader has performed better in 2025, so too has his team. Houston has opened up a 3.5 game lead over the slumping Seattle Mariners in the American League West division, and the improvement in the bullpen that the veteran southpaw has driven deserves much of the credit.

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