Milwaukee Brewers: What is Josh Hader’s future?

Top prospect Josh Hader dominated out of the Milwaukee Brewers bullpen last year. What does the future hold for the hard throwing lefty?

All the way back in 2015, four players were sent back to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers. Josh Hader was seen as the third best player in that deal. That’s no knock on Hader either.

We’ve seen one piece, Domingo Santana, light up MLB pitching. Brewer fans also got a glimpse of what Brett Phillips has to offer at the end of last season.

As good as Phillips and Santana have been, and could be, Hader’s future should have Brewers fans most excited.

We saw Hader dominate after he was called up in 2017. In over 47 innings he posted a 2.08 ERA, to go along with 68 strikeouts, and a k% (strikeout percentage) of 36.2%.

Hader saw more at-bats against righties, which makes sense because he’s a left-handed reliever.  In 30 plus innings against right-handed batters, he only allowed four home runs, and an opponent batting average of .165, according to FanGraphs.

He was equally as tough on lefties. In 17 innings pitched against left-handers he only allowed two earned runs, and an opponent batting average of .136.

So, what made Josh so successful against both sides of the plate this year? That answer is simple. Josh Hader has some of the nastiest stuff in baseball.

His average fastball sits at 94.8 MPH, and has an average horizontal movement (pfx HMov) of 5.86 inches, according to BrooksBaseball. To put that in perspective, Andrew Miller‘s fastball sits at an average of 93.74 MPH and has an average horizontal movement (pfx HMov) of 5.89 inches.

Hader’s fastball is filthy, and his other pitches aren’t far behind. His average slider and changeup sit at 80.02 MPH and 85.86 MPH, respectively. They also both have great movement just like his fastball.

So, the tall lefty has great stuff, but what does it mean for his future? Well, that’s up for the Brewers to decide.