Although Josh Hader was in rare form with the Milwaukee Brewers, things have taking a turn for the worse once he was traded to the San Diego Padres prior to the MLB trade deadline.
With the Padres trying to remain in contention for one of the coveted NL Wild Card spots, Hader’s performance on Sunday against the Kansas City Royals was as brutal as it gets.
During the bottom of the eighth inning, Hader was brought in with the Padres trailing 9-6. After a few miscued pitches, Hader allowed six earned runs in one-third of an inning.
Things actually got so bad that skipper Bob Melvin came to the mound to replace him with Wil Myers — who is a position player.
Fans across social media had a lot to say about Hader’s abysmal performance with many believing the aggressive trade for the All-Star closer was a big mistake for the Padres.
Craig Kimbrel: “Im the worst closer in the NL West”
Josh Hader: pic.twitter.com/9JncL17qoy
— Cam
(@Camd3n_10) August 28, 2022
Hader was pitching great with the Brewers, holding an ERA of 1.05 prior to July 4th so who knows if his recent poor performance is mental or physical but it’s something.
Since joining the Padres, Hader’s ERA sits at an eye-opening 25.71 with Sunday being the worst outing. His season-long ERA is now 6.52.
The Padres ended up losing to the Royals 15-7. Ironically enough, Milwaukee is now only 1.5 games back from the third spot that is currently held by San Diego.