Has Struggling Houston Astros Star Finally Found Groove?

After a brutal start, this Houston Astros reliever has been much better lately.

May 14, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros relief pitcher Josh Hader (71) delivers a pitch. / Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

Few players have had a more turbulent start to the season than Josh Hader.

Fresh off signing a historic five-year, $95 million contract with the Houston Astros in the offseason, Hader immediately slumped with his new team. The five-time All-Star endured one of the worst stretches of his career to begin the year, allowing at least one run in five of his first 11 appearances.

With the Astros off to their worst start in years, Hader became an easy target as one of their highest-paid and highest-profile flops. Houston was struggling to win games, and Hader was only exacerbating the situation by repeatedly blowing winnable ones.

But after a horrific start to his Astros tenure, Hader is starting to look like his old self again.

Josh Hader has been great recently. Just a clutch 2 inning performance with 3 strikeouts to keep the game tied.

Last 7 games:

0.96 ERA
9.1 IP
1 ER
4 H
14 K
0.86 WHIP
3 saves

The $95 million man for the #Astros might have found his groove pic.twitter.com/yADeLilJVT

— Maanav Gupta (@MGSportsTalk) May 15, 2024

Hader came up big when Houston needed him on Tuesday.

With the game tied at 1-1 against the Oakland A's heading into the ninth inning, the star closer came in and delivered two scoreless innings, allowing the Astros to rally for a walk-off win in the bottom of the 10th.

It was already his second time this season throwing two innings, which is notable given that he hadn't pitched two innings in the same game since 2019 prior to joining Houston. With Hader coming off three days of rest, Joe Espada trusted him to get six big outs, and he didn't disappoint.

The Astros have now won five of their last six, finally digging themselves out of last place in the AL West. Hader has assisted their turnaround with a 1.59 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings over his last nine appearances, notching a pair of wins and four saves during that stretch as well.

He and his teammates still have a long way to go if they want to put their abysmal start behind them and make the playoffs.

That said, at least they finally seem to have gotten themselves back on track.