Josh Hader
This one is the pipe dream addition of this article. The one every fan wants desperately to happen, but knows deep in their heart the odds aren’t in the Braves favor. I’ve said it before but this is truly like Thanos getting his hands on the last infinity stone.
As we discuss Hader, we already know there’s not much to dislike. He’s now a five-time (5x,5x,5x,5x,5x) All-Star reliever. He has been consistently great since he entered the league, and he is everything you want in a lockdown closer.
Hader has elite stuff and elite numbers to prove it. As of July 19th, his ERA sits at exactly 1.00. He has allowed just four earned runs on the season. He has a WHIP under one, a sub 2.5 FIP, is striking out 13.5 batters per nine innings. His stuff is so good he generates swings that look straight out of my MLB The Show at-bats (see below).
Josh Hader, Mean 84mph Slider. 😠 pic.twitter.com/IHhXWEIYCc
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 15, 2023
Sadly, with great production comes great cost during the MLB trade deadline. Hader is just a rental player who teams would get for just one postseason run. However, that isn’t going to drop the price down low enough for the Braves to compete for his services in my opinion. Consider this another one of our dream acquisitions that we wrote about yesterday.