It wasn't his cleanest outing, but Houston Astros closer Josh Hader picked up his 24th save of the season in Tuesday's 6-5 win over the Rockies. Hader came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth inning up by two. He got the first out on a fly-out, allowed a solo home run and a single, and ended the game on back-to-back strikeouts. The 31-year-old has converted all of his save opportunities this season and now leads baseball in saves. He has put up strong numbers even by his standards, compiling five wins with a 1.86 ERA, a 0.72 WHIP, a 13.73 K/9 rate, and a career-low 1.63 BB/9 rate in 38 2/3 innings of work.

Houston Astros closer Josh Hader made quick work of the Chicago Cubs to secure save No. 23 in a 2-0 win Sunday. Hader pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning with one strikeout over just 11 pitches to clinch a series win for the Astros. The shutdown left-hander has converted all of his save attempts this season while pitching to a 1.67 ERA with a 0.69 WHIP and 57:7 K:BB. Hader has been automatic this year and is closing in on his sixth 30-save campaign.

Houston Astros closer Josh Hader got a one-out save on Friday, retiring the only batter he faced to close out the Chicago Cubs in a 7-4 victory. The ninth inning started as a non-save situation, but after a walk and a double it turned into a save opportunity, so the Astros summoned their closer. Hader is now 22-for-22 in save opportunities this season and has been nearly unhittable this year. The 31-year-old has an immaculate 1.72 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, and 56 strikeouts over 36 IP. Hader is probably the best closer in baseball right now and should continue to be elite for fantasy managers.

Houston Astros closer Josh Hader converted his 21st save in as many chances as the club pulled out a 2-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday. Hader, pitching for the second straight night and third out of four, retired the Phillies in order and struck out one in the top of the ninth. The star left-hander needed 16 pitches to slam the door on Philadelphia. Hader lowered his ERA to a dazzling 1.73 with a microscopic 0.72 WHIP and 56:7 K:BB over 36 1/3 innings. He remains a superb option at the age of 31, though the Astros may try to avoid using him on Thursday because of his recent workload. Hader has thrown 45 pitches in three save situations since Sunday.

Houston Astros closer Josh Hader picked up his 20th save of the season in Tuesday's 1-0 win over the Phillies. Hader came in to pitch the top of the ninth inning. He got the first out on a strikeout, hit a batter, got the second out on a pop-up, and ended the game with another strikeout. The 31-year-old has been as good as ever this season, converting all of his save opportunities with a 1.78 ERA, a 0.74 WHIP, and a 14.01 K/9 rate in 35 1/3 innings of work. Walks and home runs have bloated his ERA at times in his career, and while his current 1.27 HR/9 rate is not the best, he has put few runners on for free. His 1.78 BB/9 rate is a career-low, so it is possible that he won't sustain it, but Hader has been outstanding overall this season, even by his standards.

Houston Astros left-hander Josh Hader picked up his 18th save in a 4-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. Hader allowed one run on two hits in his lone inning of work while striking out two in the frame. He made things interesting in the outing, coughing up a solo homer to Mike Tauchman to cut the Astros' lead to one run and then putting the tying run on second base via a Miguel Vargas double. Hader bounced back, however, striking out Austin Slater to get the final out. Hader now has a 2-0 record, 1.55 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 18 saves, and 45 strikeouts over 29 innings of work on the season. He remains an elite fantasy closer in all formats.

Houston Astros reliever Josh Hader fired a clean ninth inning in Tuesday's 3-0 road win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The veteran entered the game to protect a three-run lead and made quick work of Pirates' outfielder Bryan Reynolds -- inducing him to line out in three pitches -- before striking out Tommy Pham and Alexander Canario to slam the door. That's back-to-back perfect appearances for Hader, and he hasn't yielded an earned run in his last seven outings. It's another dominant season for him, sporting a pristine 1.38 ERA and 0.73 WHIP across 26 innings with 16 saves and a sterling 39:6 K:BB ratio. He ranks fourth in the league in saves and has a .144 average against him (.155 xBA) while holding the lowest walk rate of his career.

Houston Astros closer Josh Hader picked up his 12th save of the season in Monday's 4-3 win over the Rays. Hader came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth inning up by one. The leadoff hitter reached on an error, and the first out occurred on a groundout, with the runner advancing to second. The tying run advanced to third on a stolen base, but Hader left that runner stranded by getting the next two hitters out on a bunt pop-up and a foul pop-up. The 31-year-old has converted all of his save opportunities this season with a 1.71 ERA, a 0.81 WHIP, a 12.43 K/9 rate, and a 2.14 BB/9 rate in 21 innings of work. Hader has been one of fantasy's most reliable sources of saves throughout his career, but walks and home runs have been issues at times. Fortunately, everything seems to be clicking for him in 2025.

Houston Astros closer Josh Hader picked up his eighth save of the season in Monday's 8-5 win over the Tigers. Hader came in to pitch the top of the ninth inning up by three. He got the first two outs on a fly-out and a strikeout, allowed a double, and ended the game with another strikeout. The 31-year-old has been excellent so far even by his standards, converting all of his save opportunities with a 0.64 ERA, a 12.21 K/9 rate, and a 1.93 BB/9 rate. Free passes and home runs have been issues for Hader at times throughout his career, but he has done a great job limiting free passes and has yet to allow a homer.

Houston Astros relief pitcher Josh Hader picked up the save on Thursday, closing the doors on the Mets in a 3-1 victory. It wasn't a flawless inning by any means, as he allowed one run on two hits and one walk. Early season rust aside, Hader should continue to be one of the game's most dominant closers. In 2024, he collected 34 saves while posting a 3.80 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 71 innings. He did need 35 pitches to finish the frame, so don't be surprised if he is unavailable out of the pen for the next game or two.

Houston Astros closer Josh Hader said that he's trying to simplify and limit his movements before his windup to the plate this year. "Not really with my mechanics, but just the initial coming set," Hader said. "That's where a lot of things can be picked up by hitters, when you're coming set. You tend to do certain things on certain pitches. Just trying to limit any tell that I could." Additionally, the hard-throwing 30-year-old southpaw is working on making his changeup a bigger part of his arsenal. Of his 1,166 pitches in 2024, Hader threw only 12 changeups, with 11 coming to right-handed hitters. Other than giving up 12 homers in his first year in Houston in 2024, Hader was a pretty dominant closer with 34 saves and a 79.1 percent share of his team's saves. He also led all relievers with 105 strikeouts, and his 37.8% strikeout rate ranked third. Consider Hader a top-five fantasy closer in 2025.

Houston Astros closer Josh Hader got back on track in Tuesday's 4-3 win over the Mariners, earning a four-out save. Hader came in to pitch the top of the eighth inning up by one with two outs and runners on first and third. He got the third out with a strikeout and stayed in to pitch the ninth, delivering a 1-2-3 inning with two more strikeouts. The 30-year-old closed the door on an American League West division title, just one outing after yielding four runs while recording just one out. Hader has not performed as well as he had earlier in his career, but he has still racked up 34 saves with a 3.60 ERA, a 0.93 WHIP, and a 13.37 K/9 rate in 70 innings of work. Given his job security and strong offense backing him, he should remain a high-end fantasy option for the foreseeable future.

Houston Astros left-hander Josh Hader earned the win in his team's 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in 10 innings on Wednesday. Hader threw two scoreless innings while striking out three and not allowing a baserunner. The star closer came on in the ninth inning with the game tied 1-1 and stuck around to post a scoreless bottom of the 10th to pick up the win. One of the most dominant fantasy closers in baseball, Hader now has a 5-6 record, 3.48 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 26 saves, and 82 strikeouts over 54 1/3 innings of work this season.

Houston Astros closer Josh Hader amassed his 21st save of the season in Wednesday night's win at Minute Maid Park over the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates, striking out one in a scoreless ninth inning. Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen grounded out to second baseman Jose Altuve for the final out of Wednesday's series finale, but Hader did allow the tying run to get aboard via a Jared Triolo single during the ninth inning. The 30-year-old star closer has been shaky all year long as Houston's go-to stopper, concluding the month of July with a 5.23 ERA in 10 1/3 innings. However, Hader converted each of his save opportunities and fanned 14 batters with a 0.97 WHIP in his latest 12 appearances.

Houston Astros left-hander Josh Hader got the final three outs to preserve a 3-0 win over the Seattle Mariners on Friday. Hader needed just 11 pitches to get through the ninth inning while striking out one and not allowing any baserunners. The star closer now has a 3-5 record, 3.77 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 19 saves, and 68 strikeouts over 43 innings of work this season. Despite a higher-than-usual ERA, Hader remains an elite fantasy closer thanks to his high strikeout rate and frequent save chances.

Houston Astros closer Josh Hader didn't pitch a clean outing but did convert his 13th save of the season in Monday's 3-1 win over the Blue Jays. Hader came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth inning up by three. He got the first two outs on a strikeout and fly-out, allowed a solo home run, and got the final out on a pop-out. The 30-year-old has now converted all but one save opportunity with a 3.82 ERA, a 14.34 K/9 rate, and a 2.63 BB/9 rate in 37 2/3 innings pitched. His ERA has been higher than fantasy managers would expect, but he has done a good job limiting walks. Ultimately, Hader's skillset is still that of a top fantasy option, but he has surprisingly not had a ton of save opportunities due to the Astros' overall mediocre performance.

Houston Astros closer Josh Hader picked up his ninth save of the season in Monday's 7-4 win over the Cardinals. Hader came in to pitch the top of the ninth inning up by three and turned in a 1-2-3 performance with a strikeout. The 30-year-old has been solid this season, converting all but one of his save opportunities. His 14.46 K/9 rate is what fantasy managers have come to expect, although his 3.54 ERA and .302 BABIP are not at the elite level he has shown over his career. The good news is that he has allowed just two runs since the beginning of May and has maintained high strikeout skills, so fantasy managers have nothing to worry about.

Houston Astros reliever Josh Hader retired three of the four batters he faced on the way to his fifth save of the season in Friday's 5-2 win against the Detroit Tigers. Hader allowed one walk while striking out two as 10 of his 17 pitches went for strikes. Friday marked the fifth time in his last six outings that Hader did not allow a run, lowering his ERA to 5.29. He has struck out 11 batters in his last 7 1/3 innings, a sign that the free agent acquisition is returning to his All-Star form. Overall, Hader owns a 5.29 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, and a 27:8 K: BB across 17 innings in 2024.

Houston Astros closer Josh Hader secured Thursday's save, recording four outs with one strikeout for his fourth save of the season in the 4-3 win over the New York Yankees. Hader relieved Ryan Pressly in the eighth inning and got lefty-hitter Anthony Rizzo to pop out to end the frame. Gleyber Torres lined a single to get the tying run aboard in the ninth, but Hader managed to sit down the next three hitters in order. It was awful start to the year for Hader in his Astros debut season, but he's gotten back on track with a 2.16 ERA and 1.08 WHIP while striking out 14, walking three, and converting each of his three save opportunities over his last seven appearances (8 1/3 innings). It looks like the 30-year-old three-time National League Reliever of the Year's buy-low window in fantasy has closed for the time being.

Houston Astros closer Josh Hader was charged with the loss in a 5-4 defeat at the hands of the Seattle Mariners on Sunday. Hader gave up a homer in the ninth inning of a tie game to Cal Raleigh to take his third loss of the year. The lefty appeared to be figuring things out heading into this one, with no earned runs allowed in his last four innings pitched, but he can't seem to find his consistency this season. His ERA rises to 6.14 and his WHIP to 1.43, although he does have 24 strikeouts in 14 IP. He also still only has three saves, which has to be the biggest disappointment for fantasy managers.