The Houston Astros received gut-punching news on All-Star closer Josh Hader earlier this week when he was diagnosed with a capsule strain in his left shoulder. The Astros are 9-15 over their last 24 games, and the loss of Hader does not help.
The injury will shut down the Astros’ closer for three weeks and it will take him another three weeks to ramp back up, which essentially puts Hader out until the postseason at the earliest. But, that’s if everything goes well.
In Hader’s absence, the Astros have leaned on Bryan Abreu to close games out and worked in a number of other relievers to fill the innings ahead of him. However, it hasn’t worked out that well for Houston. The Astros have allowed 30 runs from the seventh inning on in the nine games since Hader’s injury. That’s an ERA of 10 across those 27 innings.
So what’s the Astros’ plan to fix it?
At this point in the season, the options are slim with the trade deadline in the past. However, as we approach the end of the season, teams that aren’t in contention will place players on waivers so that if another team picks them up, they no longer have to pay that contract.
The Astros could be monitoring waivers to see if anyone they’re interested in becomes available. One player to keep an eye on is Los Angeles Angels’ reliever Kenley Jansen.
Astros fans know the name all too well after beating Jansen’s Dodgers in the 2017 World Series. However, the four-time All-Star could be a perfect target for the Astros to add a veteran, proven arm to back end of the bullpen.
Jansen is having a fantastic year, pitching to a 2.65 ERA with 23 saves. The Angels’ reliever has thrown 47 innings this season and has a WHIP just over one.
Congratulations to Kenley Jansen for being named the American League Reliever of the Month for July! đź‘Ź pic.twitter.com/Ffvf308qUB
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) August 4, 2025
The Angels sit at 60-65 with 37 games remaining. They’re nine games back in the AL West and 7.5 games back in the wild card race. For the first time in a while, Los Angeles was still in the playoff race at the trade deadline, but they’re starting to slip out of it.
Jansen is currently on a one-year, $10 million contract. As we get into late August, if the Angels remain on the outside looking in, they could look to dump the rest of their closer’s contract on a contending team by waiving him.
If that happens, the Astros should be one of the top teams looking to pick up his contract and add a valuable weapon to the back end of their bullpen heading into the postseason.
