Houston Astros reliever Josh Hader was shut down back in February due to biceps tendinitis. The Astros closer will be out of action until at least mid-April, and his absence could stretch into the month of May.
Naturally, Astros manager Joe Espada turned to longtime setup man Bryan Abreu to take over as Houston’s closer while Hader is on the IL. At the moment, however, that decision seems to be a massive mistake.
Abreu has pitched in two games, but has only covered 1â…“ innings of work. He nearly blew a save on Sunday despite the Astros’ 9-6 lead in the ninth inning and was lifted after facing just three batters. Abreu replaced AJ Blubaugh and proceeded to walk Adam Frazier, throw a wild pitch, and then Mike Trout after Zach Neto flied out to left field.
Espada turned to Bryan King who promptly allowed an RBI single to Nolan Schanuel to cut the Astros’ lead to 9-7. The lefty then recorded back-to-back punch outs of Jo Adell and Yoán Moncada, locked down the save, and secured the series split against LA.
The Astros bullpen is struggling without Josh Hader
The Astros bullpen has been shaky to open the season. Houston relievers were forced to cover 18 innings during the team’s opening series against the Halos and King appeared in three of the four games.
Blubaugh was easily the most impressive Astros reliever, going 4â…“ innings, striking out five batters, and did not issue a single walk. Kai-Wei Teng did his job as well, logging 2â…“ innings of work while allowing just one hit and striking out two.
But Abreu, Christian Roa, Ryan Weiss, and Roddery Muñoz all looked out of sync during Houston’s first series of the season. Granted, the lack of innings of covered by Houston’s starters didn’t help matters, but Espada can’t like what he’s seen from the Astros relief corps at the start of the season.
Houston’s in a bit of pickle with some of theri relief pitchers. King, Blubaugh, and Teng, though they have minor-league options remaining, have been the team’s best relievers. Roa could be sent down without issue, but if the Astros decide that Muñoz isn’t cutting the mustard, they’ll have to first offer him back to the Cincinnati Reds. He was a Rule 5 Draft pick back in December.
Weiss can be optioned back to the minors too, but part of the reason Houston was clinging to arms like Blubaugh, Teng and Weiss was due to their ability to work multiple innings. At the moment, it’s those high-leverage, one-inning arms that are not off to a good start.
It’s certainly too early to panic, but without Hader for at least the next several weeks, Espada may need to experiment a bit more with the roles he’s assigned to the cadre of Astros relievers. Shifting Blubaugh into the closer’s role seems like a knee-jerk reaction at the moment, but one more hiccup from Abreu might force Espada to make a change.