The Houston Rockets signed Josh Hader in 2024. Since then, the closer's five-year, $95 million deal has paid off for Houston and manager Joe Espada. The pitcher who dominated with the Brewers and Padres is only getting better. One simple shift he made this offseason is behind one of his best starts to a season ever: his release point.

This offseason, Hader reviewed his 2024 season and determined that he wasn't releasing his pitches at the right spot. Because of that, tunneling pitches was more difficult. Batters could more easily identify which pitch he threw and hit it more often. To fix things, the 31-year-old worked with Astros general manager Dana Brown to adjust his arm angle, according to Houston Chronicle writer Matt Kawahara.

The result has paid dividends for him and his team. Hader has seven saves already this season. He is on pace to smash his career-high and add another 30+ save season to his ledger. The lefty did it twice, as with the Brewers, once with the Padres, and last year as an Astro.

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Espada can rest easy knowing that he has one of the best closers in the game to secure wins. With the Astros losing Kyle Tucker this summer, pitching became that much more important. Houston is trying to avenge their Wild Card loss to the Detroit Tigers this season and prove their dynasty isn't over just yet.

The Astros are lucky that Hader is playing so well, but the rest of the team needs to catch up to him. Christian Walker and Yordan Alvarez are wildly underperforming so far. Jose Altuve continues to struggle adjusting to playing in the outfield for Houston. The starting rotation is question marks around Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown.

The Houston Astros have time to figure things out with the majority of the season ahead of them. One thing they can count on? Hader's excellence in the ninth inning.