2022 Padres Player Review: Josh Hader

2022 Regular Season Statistics

0.8 fWAR, 56 G, 50 IP, 5.22 ERA, , 36 SV, 1.28 WHIP, 81 K, 21 BB, 8 HR, 4 HBP

Positives From This Season

There are a lot more positives to say about Josh Hader than I thought I would be able to say about him in August when he was giving up six runs to the Royals. Hader fixed his mechanics mid-season and ended up throwing 9.1 shutout innings to end his regular season.

Then in the postseason he didn’t allow a single run and struck out eight batters in a row to end his season. The city of San Diego will always remember that he struck out Mookie Betts, Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman to finish off the slaying of the dragon in the NLDS.

Of course if he took a lie detector test he’d probably say he thinks he should’ve been pitching to Bryce Harper in Game 5 of the NLCS up by a run in the eighth but that decision wasn’t up to him. We’ll never know if he would’ve gotten Harper out but he was as great as he could’ve been when it mattered most for the Padres this year.

Negatives From This Season

It almost felt like in mid-August that everything in this article would’ve been negative for Hader. He couldn’t find the strike zone and was getting booed off the mound at Petco Park.

Hader walked in the tying run against Washington on August 18 and then couldn’t get a singe out and allowed a homer to Joey Meneses the following night. He was so bad he was temporarily removed from the closer role.

Looking back on it, the negatives happened at the perfect time for the Padres. You obviously don’t want to see anyone struggle but he had the time to work through it and be ready to be the best closer in baseball come playoff time.

If you wish to listen or watch me talk more about Hader’s season on the Talking Friars Podcast/YouTube show, click here!