Josh Hader is a three-time winner of the National League’s Reliever of the Year Award, a hard-throwing lefty who has piled up 14.7 strikeouts per nine innings over his eight-year career.
He has also been the best lefthanded relief pitcher in the major leagues since 2020, according to my rankings.
I calculated the overall base values for all lefties who made at least 150 relief appearances during the past five seasons. OBV is a comparison of the bases a given pitcher surrendered (through hits, walks, hit batters, stolen bases, and sacrifices) and the number relinquished by an average big-league pitcher.
Hader appeared in 269 games for the Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, and Houston Astros between 2020 and 2024. He allowed opponents to reach 410 bases in 255 innings. The typical pitcher would have yielded 525 bases under the same circumstances. Hader’s total was 115 bases less than average, giving him an OBV of plus-115, the best five-year figure for any lefty working out of the bullpen.
That wasn’t the only sign of Hader’s superiority. He held opposing hitters to a .168 batting average and a .267 on-base percentage between 2020 and 2024, while piling up 150 saves. All of those stats were the best among all lefthanded relievers.
Nobody else in this category reached triple digits in OBV. The runners-up were Tanner Scott (plus-94 for the Baltimore Orioles, Miami Marlins, and San Diego Padres) and A.J. Minter (plus-82 for the Atlanta Braves).
Look below for the half-decade’s 10 best lefthanded relief pitchers. Each is listed with basic stats for 2020-2024: innings pitched, saves, earned run average, and overall base value.
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1. Josh Hader (IP 255.0, SV 150, ERA 2.93) — OBV +115
2. Tanner Scott (IP 287.1, SV 55, ERA 3.07) — OBV +94
3. A.J. Minter (IP 243.0, SV 16, ERA 2.85) — OBV +82
4. Matt Strahm (IP 222.1, SV 9, ERA 3.08) — OBV +74
5. Wandy Peralta (IP 227.0, SV 13, ERA 3.17) — OBV +73
6. Andrew Chafin (IP 243.1, SV 18, ERA 3.25) — OBV +70
7. Brooks Raley (IP 184.1, SV 12, ERA 3.42) — OBV +66
8. Alex Vesia (IP 214.2, SV 8, ERA 2.89) — OBV +58
9. Brent Suter (IP 306.2, SV 3, ERA 3.32) — OBV +57
10. Joe Mantiply (IP 200.2, SV 3, ERA 3.77) — OBV +45
