Padres News: Josh Hader Questions San Diego’s Playoff Chances When Pressed by Reporters
The San Diego Padres dropped a must-win game to the San Francisco Giants on Monday, bringing their elimination number down to just one.
The Padres could be eliminated from postseason contention as soon as Tuesday, putting the final nail in the coffin into an incredibly disappointing season in San Diego.
And while the loss should have been the worst part of Monday, the postgame interviews ended up being much, much worse.
After the game, Padres closer Josh Hader was pressed with questions due to the team's decision to not let him get four outs in a must-win game, a decision that ultimately led to the 2-1 loss.
When asked why he didn't pitch to get four outs, Hader responded in arguably one of the worst possible ways.
"Are we in the playoff race?"
Now the Padres had a less than one percent chance of making the postseason in Monday's game, but the team was coming off a season-high eight-game winning streak, and finally looked to be playing inspired baseball.
While most of the players were making it clear that they weren't going to give up until they were mathematically eliminated, clearly Hader was under a different impression.
Whether Hader was right in his honesty or not, that's one of the last things you ever want to hear from a star player. The mentality should always be to continue fighting until you can't make it anymore, but in this phrasing, Hader seemed to have given up on the 2023 season.
With his impending free agency coming in about five weeks, it doesn't seem like Hader and San Diego are going to be together much longer.
