What's Happened to Josh Hader?

Josh Hader had one of his worst outings to date Sunday. 

Hader gave up five hits and walked two while allowing six earned runs on Sunday. Oh, and he only managed to record one out. 

What is going on with Josh Hader? 

The struggles didn't start after Hader was traded to the San Diego Padres, but they certainly escalated following it. 

Prior to being traded, Hader had posted a 4.24 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, and 59 strikeouts over 34 innings for the Milwaukee Brewers this season. He'd also converted an impressive 29 saves. 

Following the trade to the Padres, Hader has put up a disastrous 23.14 ERA in 4.2 innings. Okay, yes, small sample size. However, he's allowed 12 hits, 12 earned runs and seven walks while recording just 14 outs. He was not able to convert a save, and he was even removed from the closer role because he was performing so bad. 

Opposing batters have a .647 BABIP against Josh Hader since he joined the Padres.

— D.J. Short (@djshort) August 29, 2022

Let's take it a step further because Hader started off the season remarkably. In his first 27 games of the season, Hader posted a minuscule 1.05 ERA with 43 strikeouts across 25.2 innings. Batters were hitting just .124/.196/.225 against him. He was as dominant as dominant could be. 

However, come game 28 for Hader, things began to unravel. Badly. 

Since July 04, Hader has posted a 17.31 ERA over 13 innings. He's allowed 27 hits, 11 walks and six home runs in those innings. It gets worse. Hitters are slashing an absurd .429/.519/.810 against him. Yikes. 

So, what has happened to Josh Hader? Is he injured? Is it all psychological? Honestly, who knows, but the San Diego Padres certainly aren't happy with the performance they've received from someone who was supposed to be the best shutdown reliever in all of baseball. 

Photo Credit:  Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports