Agent of change
How Hader could transform pitching staff without adding a front-line starter
NEW YORK — Acquiring a marquee starter such as Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery isn’t the only way the Yankees can meaningfully improve their pitching staff this offseason.
They could also employ a less traditional approach and build around their bullpen, adding a high-leverage arm or two in an attempt to shorten games and minimize the importance of their starters going deep into outings.
Enter Josh Hader.
Hader, a three-time NL Reliever of the Year, is fresh off another dominant season. The soon-to-be-former Padres closer’s strikeout rate of 36.8% ranked within the top 1% of MLB pitchers, as did his expected batting average against of .157.
His 1.28 ERA represented the second-best mark of his career, trailing only the 1.23 ERA he recorded in 2021 as a member of the Brewers.
Many consider the hard-throwing left-hander, 29, to be baseball’s top reliever. Adding him to the backend of a Yankees bullpen that posted an Mlb-best 3.34 ERA last season would give them a considerable late-game advantage over any other team.
Josh Hader at the All-star Workout Day in Seattle last July. (Alika Jenner/getty Images) Of course, signing Hader comes with complications.
Hader, a five-time All-star, reportedly wants to eclipse the five-year, $102 million contract the Mets gave to then-28-yearold Edwin Diaz, which remains the biggest deal ever for a closer. Fangraphs’ metrics, which use a player’s advanced statistics to calculate his value, suggest Hader was worth $20.9 million in 2018 and $20.7 million in 2021 but just $6 million in 2022 and $13.7 million last year.
Indeed, Hader is not terribly far removed from his lone bad season — a 2022 campaign in which he sported a 5.22 ERA between the Brewers and Padres — which the reliever and his coaches attributed to mechanical issues.
Hader rebounded with a strong 2022 postseason before last season’s sustained excellence. Still, a deeper dive into Hader’s metrics reveals several negative trends. His 13% walk rate in 2023 marked a career high. His 36.8% strikeout rate, while still elite, was far below the 45.5% or better he recorded in his three Reliever of the Year seasons (2018, 2019 and 2021).
Hader managed to navigate the increase in walks and drop in strikeouts by limiting hitters to a 28.3% hard-hit rate, which was among the best in baseball and well below several of his past seasons.
His sinker, which Hader throws 73.4% of the time, averaged 96.1 mph last year. That measures up to or exceeds Hader’s velocity in his other best years. A decline in that overpowering velocity over the course of a long-term contract would be reason for concern, however, given Hader’s propensity to walk batters.
It’s also worth noting Hader is almost exclusively a one-inning pitcher. He hasn’t pitched more than one inning in a regular-season outing since 2020, though he did record four outs without surrendering a run during an appearance in the 2022 postseason.
Regardless, few relievers in history measure up to the consistency and dominance of Hader, who in 2021 became the fastest pitcher to reach 400 strikeouts. His ability to strike out batters and limit hard contact in 2023 eased concerns that 2022 was the beginning of his decline.
The Yankees are in the mix for Hader, according to The Athletic’s Jim Bowden, who reported they could pursue the closer if they miss out on Montgomery.
Yankees signing:
The pitching-needy Yankees added a depth piece to their staff Friday, signing right-hander Cody Poteet to a majorleague contract.
The terms of the one-year deal were not announced.
Poteet, 29, pitched to a 4.45 ERA over 19 appearances, including nine starts, for the Miami Marlins from 2021-22. He underwent Tommy John surgery in August 2022 and signed a minor-league deal with the Kansas City Royals four months later.
The former fourth-round pick pitched two scoreless innings in his lone appearance for Triple-a Omaha last season. Poteet possesses a mid-90s fastball but threw his changeup more frequently.
Mets: Arizona infielder claimed:
Infielder Diego Castillo was claimed by the New York Mets off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday. The 26-year-old appeared in one big league game last year, flying out as a pinch hitter on July 31. He hit .313 with 33 doubles, three homers, 72 RBIS and 13 stolen bases in 124 games at Triple-a Reno. Castillo made his major league debut with Pittsburgh in 2022, when he batted .206 with 11 homers and 19 RBIS.