NEWSLETTER
After the Milwaukee Brewers won an arbitration hearing against Josh Hader in 2019, the reliever decided to protect himself until a team decided to give him a long-term commitment with unprecedented self-imposed usage rules. That and more in today’s MLB Notes.
Josh Hader’s Unprecedented Usage Rules with the Brewers
Last month, Josh Hader pitched the ninth inning for the Astros. No surprise there. He also pitched the 10th inning, which wouldn’t seem odd for one of the best late-inning relievers in baseball, who signed a five-year deal with Houston in January. However, as Buster Olney points out in his recent story, that was Hader’s first two-inning appearance since September 7, 2019, with Milwaukee.
As Olney writes, Hader had spent the previous four years working under unprecedented and self-imposed usage rules to keep himself healthy. Together with his agent, Jeff Berry, Haders became the first known relief pitcher to place such a restriction on himself.
“From the outside looking in, some people would say it’s selfish; some people feel like players should do what they’re told,” Hader told Olney. “But if I get hurt, I’m not able to work. Sometimes you have to protect yourself.”
Hader’s decision stemmed from losing an arbitration hearing with the Brewers in 2019 and going unsigned for months. He felt that the team didn’t recognize his importance to the roster and decided to follow suit and protect himself until the team decided to give him a long-term commitment.
“If they don’t see what I do as valuable,” Hader said, “and I can’t get the value I’m worth, then why would I put myself in jeopardy to get hurt — and not have a job? If I get injured, a team isn’t going to sign me to a long-term deal because I wouldn’t be able to pitch, and I’d have no value to them. I was just following what they told me was valuable.”
Olney spoke with current Cubs manager Craig Counsell, who was the Brewers manager then. Counsell said that he couldn’t disagree with Hader’s decision despite his bosses in the Milwaukee front office not seeing things the same way.
“It’s hard to disagree with it,” Counsell said. “I think Josh had worked really hard up to that point and done whatever the team had asked him to do. More than anything, Josh was trying to stay healthy. … How can I not agree with that? Especially after what he had done.”
Check out the full story by Buster Olney:
The Oneil Cruz Laser Show!
Oneil Cruz said after last night’s game that a fly ball he dropped during the first inning against the Giants gave him a little extra motivation during his first trip to the plate. The result? A 120.4 mph laser down the right field line for a base hit.
“I was really pissed off when I went to hit,” Cruz said through interpreter and Major League coach Stephen Morales. “I think that’s part of why I hit it so hard.”
120.4 mph ‼️
— MLB (@MLB) May 21, 2024
Oneil Cruz lashes the hardest-hit ball of the year. pic.twitter.com/3FhLB8gnrY
Cruz’s 120.4 mph line drive was the hardest hit ball in baseball this season … for about eight innings, until he topped that mark with a 121.5 mph liner down the right field line to tie the game at six in the bottom of the ninth inning! In between those two, he also had a 116 mph line drive double into the left-center field alley in the third inning.
Cruz’s 121.5 mph game-tying double in the ninth was the fourth hardest hit of the Statcast era and came via swing that registered 82.2 mph of bat speed, according to Statcast’s new bat tracking data. Since Statcast was launched in 2015, only 20 batted balls hit 120 mph or harder, including Cruz’s pair on Tuesday. Cruz also holds the record for the hardest-hit ball in the Statcast era with a 122.4 mph single in 2022.
A Trio of Walk-Offs on Tuesday
On Tuesday, the Cubs announced that Kyle Hendricks would be transitioning to the bullpen. So, when they needed happier developments, they found them when Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner returned from the IL, and both had a significant impact. Swanson went 2-for-4 with a double (and a nice play to catch a lead runner at short), and in the 10th inning, Hoerner hit a Baltimore chop to the right side of the infield to secure a walk-off victory.
The Astros topped the Angels in 10 innings thanks to a walk-off single by Jeremy Peña that scored Kyle Tucker. Ironically, it was Tucker who sent the game to extras with a home run in the season, his second of the night and his 17th of the season, which leads all of baseball. Houston has won 10 of their last 13 games since starting the season 12-24. They’re now 22-27 and appear to be climbing their way out of the hole they dug themselves with their slow start.
Then of course, the Pirates downed the Giants in walk-off fashion. After Oneil Cruz’s laser tied the game in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs, Nick Gonzales completed the comeback effort for Pittsburgh with a walk-off base hit in the bottom of the 10th inning.
