Padres News: Josh Hader Reveals Secret Method to Success as Closer

Friars closer looks as great as ever

Your San Diego Padres are coming off a weekend where they took three out of four games against their division rivals Arizona Diamondbacks. The three games they came out victorious were thanks to stellar offense and their southpaw closer, Josh Hader. Hader picked up three of his eight saves in Arizona, and he's looking like the old Josh Hader but at the same time, not really. 

When the lefty closer was traded to the Padres last summer, he looked like he had lost a step. His ERA sky-rocketed to 6.52 and showed no signs of life in his play. However, something switched toward the end of the season, leading into the playoffs and this 2023 season. Hader's eight saves are tied for the most in the league, and while he has the coaching staff to thank for that, he also realized he had to adapt. 

“This game adapts to you,” Hader said recently. “It’s the hardest game that you’ll ever play. They’ve got the book on you. You’ve just got to keep adapting, making your game better, and trying to improve.”

The 29-year-old is throwing more fastballs in recent seasons and fewer sliders than ever. Hader also made some major but unnoticeable tweaks to his game that Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla and bullpen coach Ben Fritz helped him with. Niebla and Fritz helped the three-time NL reliever of the year fix how his lower and upper half worked together and how quickly he "opened up" during his delivery. 

These adjustments have helped Hader tremendously in this hot start, but he also stated he doesn't want to get complacent and is changing appearance by appearance. 

“It’s different each year,” he said. “I’d say mentally I’m better than years previously. There’s times where my velocity has been higher than it is this part of the season, which some people could say is a better factor. But I really don’t think about previously. I just kind of stay in the moment..."