Astros activating Josh Hader is coming with some familiar and unfortunate guardrails

Given the state of the Houston Astros' bullpen, it is no wonder that fans were so excited to learn that Josh Hader was being activated from the injured list. Bryan Abreu has been anything but reliable, and while a few relievers like Enyel De Los Santos and Steven Okert have done their best, getting one of the best relievers (when healthy) back is a huge boost. Unfortunately, that boost may not be as big as Houston fans may be hoping.

Coming off multiple injuries to his pitching arm, a certain amount of load management for Hader was to be expected. However, that normally means that you take it easy on a player for a couple of weeks, and then it is business as usual unless there is a reason to do otherwise.

However, when Hader spoke to reporters upon his return, he certainly gave the impression that it seems like he and the Astros are going to be considerably more cautious than that. In fact, they are being so cautious that their plans could really blunt the positive impact that Hader's return should have.

Astros are going to manage Josh Hader's workload aggressively, but that may not be good news

Now, Hader has previously talked about his reluctance to pitch multiple innings with his previous teams. Before he ultimately got his deal from the Astros, Hader spoke about how he didn't want to risk his arm throwing multiple innings without financial security, especially when the playoffs weren't a consideration.

Given that Hader is coming off bicep and shoulder issues, limiting him to one inning stints makes plenty of sense and at least reflects that the Astros may be growing their understanding of how to treat injured players. However, Hader and manager Joe Espada both said that the Astros are also going to avoid pitching Hader on back-to-back days for the foreseeable and that is where things could get dicey.

Look, no one is advocating for Hader to pitch five games a week. Even if he didn't have the injury concerns, that would be a terrible idea. However, the fact that Hader would only be available once if the Astros play two close games in a row is a bit problematic. Now, you open the door to not only inferior high-leverage options again, but they are going to be ones that are no longer used to be used in that role.

The good news is that both Hader and Espada also said that they may revisit the arrangement later in the season, especially if there’s a playoff spot on the line. That does at least make one think they are only being cautious and not trying to mask an ongoing injury. However, at this point, nothing can be taken for granted with this Astros squad.

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