Padres give ‘little break’ for Josh Hader following meltdown

According to the San Diego Padres manager Bob Melvin, Josh Hader will be relieved of his closer duties after the Padres’ losses on Thursday and Friday, which were partly caused by a meltdown in the ninth inning.

Prior to Saturday’s game against the Washington Nationals, Melvin said that Hader, 28, would be given a “little break” to work on some things.

“We will probably give him a break from that (closer) in the interim here, let him work on some things,” he said.

“But, our best team, obviously, is with Josh Hader in the closer’s role and that’s why we got him. So, we will give him a little break for now.”

Due to Hader’s break, right-handers Luis Garcia and Robert Suarez, as well as left-handers Adrian Morejon and Nick Martinez, came as the potential names to replace him.

Hader was playing for Milwaukee before joining the Padres when he was acquired on August 1 for four San Diego players, including the Padres’ closer at the time, Taylor Rogers. However, it has been noted that Hader has underperformed since joining the Padres.

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Hader issued a statement following his defeat on Friday to the last-place Washington Nationals, where he failed to retire a batter and committed a throwing error.

“There’s a standard that I hold myself to and that’s not result-based, but more executing pitches and getting into a place where I feel dominant.”

“All the external things don’t affect anything. I go and do my work … just continue to move forward, learn from the mistakes,” Hader explained

When asked by MLB.com after the loss, Hader said that there is always an obstacle when playing a game, and this time it was more difficult than usual.

“That’s one of the things right now obviously, this obstacle is hitting a little bit harder than most but that’s why we play this game,” he said. “You’ve got two options. You can give up and fold, or you can figure it out and move forward.”

His performance has declined since the beginning of June when he didn’t allow a single earned run in 19 appearances. He did, however, post a respectable ERA of 10.07 throughout his 19 2/3 innings.