MLB’s Most Dominant Pitcher Isn’t Even an Ace or a Closer

There are 440 pitchers in Major League Baseball with no more than two wins and no more than six saves thus far in 2018. They are neither ace starters nor shutdown closers. They are the Everypitcher.

Except, of course,nfl jerseys cheap wholesale  for the guy who’s allowing the lowest OPS of any left-hander ever and striking out batters at a higher rate than any pitcher ever (minimum 30 innings).

If you haven’t already, meet Josh Hader.

The 24-year-old lefty has been working out of the Milwaukee Brewers bullpen since last June. And one swing and miss at a time, he’s rapidly progressed from an intriguing oddity into a likely All-Star with a growing reputation as MLB’s best relief pitcher. nfl jersey cheap wholesale

All Hader has done in 2018 is rack up a 1.13 ERA and, as noted above, overwhelm hitters to the tune of 18 strikeouts per nine innings and a microscopic .363 OPS allowed. He typically dominates them in bunches, as he’s squeezed 40 innings out of just 25 appearances.

Hader wasn’t necessarily destined for a role like this. He was starting games for the Triple-A Colorado Springs Sky Sox as recently as last June, at which time he was still rated as a top pitching prospect.wholesale cheap nfl jerseys

But with a 5.37 ERA and a rate of 5.4 walks per nine innings to his name, what Baseball America had written about him was ringing true: “Hader has front-line starter’s stuff but must improve his changeup and control to reach his ceiling.”

Instead, the Brewers made the call to promote Hader as a reliever.

And like Andrew Miller before him, he didn’t resist his team’s attempt to turn him into a new-age fireman who’s ready, willing and able to get as many outs as needed whenever they’re needed. He authored a fitting preamble to what he’s done in 2018: a 2.08 ERA over 47.2 innings in 35 appearances. nfl jerseys wholesale cheap

“A big key to Josh is that he’s open to what’s best for the team,” Brewers general manager David Stearns told ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle in May. “He came up here and adapted to that [middle relief] role very well, and he enjoys that role.authentic nfl jerseys cheap wholesale  If tomorrow we asked him to go back to starter, he’d do that and enjoy that role. He’s a guy who really will take to any task.”

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