Is It Time to Start Worrying About Josh Hader?

The Houston Astros might have an expensive issue on their hands.

Apr 15, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros Josh Hader (71) pitches against the Atlanta Braves / Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Astros dropped another one on Monday night as the Atlanta Braves took a 6-1 victory in Minute Maid Park.

The game had been held close together until the bullpen got shelled and let the Braves blow the game apart. One arm in particular has had a rocky start to the season.

Josh Hader just simply hasn't been good to start the season. Unfortunate timing for a cold streak as the Astros just signed the closer to a record five-year, $95 million deal.

Hader was able to get just one batter out with his 22 pitches against Atlanta. He gave up four runs on four hits, walking a batter along the way.

His earned run average has now ballooned to 9.39 in nine appearances this season.

Is it time to start worrying about the signing? Has he had stretches like this before?

Looking back through the career of Hader, this start is truly unprecented. Before this start, the worst career ERA that he has through nine games was 3.75 in 2019. Even that was an outlier as he was usually at 0.00 or just above 1.00.

In his first nine games to start this season, he had given up eight runs. That is not the worst stretch he has had in his career, which could be good news.

In 2022, he had two separate nine game stretches in which he gave up 12 runs. He finished that season with a career worst 5.22 ERA.

The good news is that before getting drilled in this game, Hader had been on a three appearance streak but they were all no decisions.

It probably isn't time to worry yet, but the Astros will want him to get back on track quickly. This is an uncharacteristic streak, which mean it is freaky to see but has no precedent to stick around for too long.