Although Josh Hader was in rare form with the Milwaukee Brewers, things have taken 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.
The Josh Hader experience 🥴#TimeToShine #Padres #MLB pic.twitter.com/veHNgf35Ra
— Baseball Today (@dailymlbtweets) August 28, 2022
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.
Josh Hader as a Padre
pic.twitter.com/raNRejt95S— brent loves the Padres (@realbrentreed) August 28, 2022
Craig Kimbrel: “I’m the worst closer in the NL West”
Josh Hader: pic.twitter.com/9JncL17qoy
— 𝐩𝐨𝐜 (Extend Meetch) (@Camden0044) August 28, 2022
Josh Hader has a 25.71 ERA since joining the Padres and San Diego will have to pay him more than $15 million next year unless they decide to non-tender him.
Watch the Padres not tender him just to watch him somehow figure it out with another club. Brutal.
— Doug McCain (@DMAC_LA) August 28, 2022
Josh Hader in Milwaukee vs. Josh Hader in San Diego pic.twitter.com/NuMiVvLbTJ
— BetMGM 🦁 (@BetMGM) August 28, 2022
Josh hader has a 25.71 ERA since the FBI raided Mar-a-lago
— AdamThaSportFan (@AdamThaSportFan) August 20, 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.