HOUSTON -- Lucas Hader, the son of Astros closer Josh Hader and his wife Maria, was still a baby when he attended his first All-Star Game in 2023. He fell asleep during the Home Run Derby and will have no memory of his father throwing one scoreless inning for the National League on that July night in Seattle.
These days, Lucas swings for the fences at his own Home Run Derby in the family backyard as a 3 year old, with his father being OK with giving up long balls for once in his life. And now Lucas, along with his father, is headed back to the All-Star Game after Hader was selected to represent the Astros on the American League team.
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Having family and friends in tow at the All-Star Game on Tuesday at Truist Park in Atlanta -- Hader’s sixth All-Star Game appearance and his first with the Astros -- means more to him at 31 years old than anything else the honor bestows on a player.
“It’s great,” Hader said. “Obviously, that’s the dream to play baseball, but to make an All-Star Game and be able to enjoy it with your family, that’s the best part about it.”
Hader will be joined in Atlanta by three teammates -- starting pitcher Hunter Brown, shortstop Jeremy Peña and third baseman Isaac Paredes, who was added to replace José Ramírez of the Guardians. Brown won’t pitch because he started Sunday’s game against Texas, and Peña won’t play because he’s recovering from a fractured rib.
“This game is hard to play, so for me to be able to get to go to the All-Star Game and play the best of the best, it doesn’t get any better than that,” Hader said. “No matter if it’s your first one or your 10th one, that thing is still pretty special.”
The hard-throwing left-hander is having one of the best seasons of his career. He successfully converted his first 25 save opportunities, breaking Dave Smith’s club record set in 1989. He was named the AL Reliever of the Month for June after he posted a 1.98 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings with nine saves.
“He’s really confident,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “I think he figured some things out this offseason, and I think we’re seeing the best version of him right now.”
The Astros signed Hader to a five-year, $95 million contract in January 2024 with hopes he would record the final out of another World Series title, but that hasn’t happened yet. Hader appeared in 71 games in ’24 and posted a 3.80 ERA and 0.96 WHIP with 105 strikeouts in 71 innings, saving 34 games, but he gave up a three-run double to Andy Ibáñez that broke an eighth-inning tie to allow the Tigers to eliminate the Astros in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series.
That drove Hader to rework some things to have more consistency and command. He’s continued to evolve as a pitcher instead of just being a guy who threw 100 mph fastballs past hitters like he did earlier in his career.
“It was easy at the beginning of my career just being able to chuck fastballs, but the game adapts to you, and you’ve got to be able to adapt to it and try and get that one up,” he said. “Last year made me realize you can’t just go through chucking [the] fastball every time.”
Hader lowered his arm slot this year to 29 degrees from 34 degrees last year with a slight tilt in his torso, which has helped him cut down on walks. He’s also thrown more sliders (40 percent) and changeups (4 percent) this year and fewer fastballs (55 percent), as opposed to ’24 when he threw 71 percent heaters, 27 percent sliders and 1 percent changeups.
“All the guys that I’ve ever played with coming up, they’ve always said if you don’t adjust, the game will adjust to you and you’ll be gone in the next year,” he said. “For me, I want to win, and I want to be great. My competitiveness wouldn’t allow me to just to be OK with just getting beat.
“So I always want to go to the drawing board, whether it’s my best year or not, and see what can I improve on, whether that’s mechanically, mentally, physically, pitches -- whatever it is. It’s always trying to make a little improvement each and every day, and once you’re done with the season, look back and see where you’re at.”