Milwaukee Brewers Josh Hader is a strikeout machine

There are pitchers who are dominant, and then there is Milwaukee Brewers reliever Josh Hader, who, right now, is in a league of his own.

The first few weeks of the season can lead to some odd happenings on the leader boards. Players who are not known for their power appear amongst the home run leaders, and middle relievers are right there in wins. These statistical oddities usually disappear by the end of the first month, as players and teams gravitate to the mean.

In the early going, there is one statistical oddity that is certainly worth noting. Milwaukee Brewers reliever Josh Hader has been on an incredible strikeout streak to start the year, with 23 strikeouts in his 9.2 innings of work. That total is so impressive that Hader ranks fifth in the National League in strikeouts, trailing Jon Gray and Robbie Ray by one for third.

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Those numbers do not truly do Hader’s incredible 2018 campaign justice. In those 9.2 innings, he has allowed just five baserunners, with two hits and three walks. He has faced a total of 34 batters, with 22 of them being sent back to the dugout after the third strike. His current 20.5 K/9 rate, if continued over 50 innings, would be the best in baseball history, and far outpaces the single season record held by Aroldis Chapman, who struck out 17.67 batters per nine innings in 2014.

This pure dominance also brings Hader’s role into question. He had been a starter in the minors, but was brought to the majors last season as a reliever. The Brewers starting rotation has holes, and a dominant force such as Hader could be useful as Milwaukee looks to get to the postseason. However, his lack of a viable third pitch limits what he could be as a starter.

Meanwhile, as Corey Knebel is on the disabled list, Hader could be considered an option to close games. Yet, the Brewers have not displayed an inclination to use him in the ninth, with his one save coming after he had pitched the eighth, and Milwaukee added a fourth run to their lead afterwards. Using Hader in that Andrew Miller type role has proven to be more valuable, at least thus far.

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At some point, the Milwaukee Brewers may want to rethink how they deploy Josh Hader. For now, they have one of the more dominant strikeout pitchers in the game, a force to be reckoned with whenever he is summoned.