MILWAUKEE -- After years of a carefully monitored workload, Brewers closer Josh Hader is a different, more durable animal now. And he’s been pitching better than ever.

Hader saved all three games of the Brewers’ weekend sweep of the Pirates, marking the second time this season he pitched three days in a row. Before this year, he’d only pitched three straight days on one occasion, from July 30-Aug. 1, 2019, in Oakland, back when Hader’s outings routinely extended beyond one inning with extra rest in between.

“I don’t think we should be surprised by anything Josh does,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “If you put something in front of him, I think Josh is going to have a good chance of achieving it. He continues to improve and he continues to be a real rock for us at the end of the games. He’s having a wonderful season. He’s doing a great job managing his workload in a little bit of a new role for him.

“His availability this year has been outstanding. He has done a really good job of figuring out how he recovers the best way and how he is able to be available most days. That’s a big deal for a team.”

Essentially, Hader has settled into what traditionally has been called a closer’s role. For years, the Brewers resisted that designation with Hader because rest was vital to maintaining his electric stuff, and the old-school notion of a closer is that he is typically required to be able to go three days in a row or four out of five days when the games dictate it.

With time and experience, Hader has developed that durability. He became the first Milwaukee pitcher to pick up saves in all three games of a series sweep since Jeremy Jeffress in July 2016 -- also against the Pirates. (Jeffress actually got the save on four straight days in that instance.)

“From the beginning, when I started [pitching exclusively in relief] in 2017, the biggest thing was getting that [routine] down,” Hader said. “Figure out what works best, how many throws I needed to do depending on my workload during games. It’s been a big feel thing for me to just see how my body’s reacting.”

His body has responded. His average four-seam fastball velocity is a career-high 96 mph, according to Baseball Savant, and he has introduced a changeup to his fastball-slider combination. He has a 0.68 ERA, a career-best 0.75 WHIP and is still striking out 46 percent of batters, just off his career-high 47.8 percent in 2019.

Hader is 17-for-17 in save chances. Of Major League relievers with at least 10 save opportunities this season, only Hader and the Cardinals’ Alex Reyes (16-for-16) came into play Monday perfect thus far.

“It’s been fun,” Hader said. “Each and every day I have my throwing program and I use that to keep myself sharp, whether it's the fastball, breaking stuff, and I’ll do my dry work off the mound. It’s just that preparation and the routine that I have that keeps me prepared for any situation, whether that’s a six-game streak when I don't pitch at all or multiple games in a row. It’s a fine line and I continue to put the work in.”

Fresh start for Strickland

Veteran reliever Hunter Strickland is used to moving around. The Brewers, who acquired him from the Angels for cash Saturday and activated him Monday, are Strickland’s seventh team in eight Major League seasons. But he has appeared for three of those teams in the past five weeks alone. 

Strickland began the season with the Rays and logged a 1.69 ERA in 13 appearances before he was traded to the Angels for cash on May 15. When he struggled in Los Angeles to a 9.95 ERA and 2.37 WHIP in nine games, it opened an opportunity for the Brewers to pick him up in another cash deal.

“It’s been quite an adventure, for sure, just packing up and moving around,” Struckland said. “Luckily in Tampa, I was staying in my camper, so it’s a pretty easy commute just to drive home [Georgia] and head to L.A. It all worked out, but I’m glad to be here now. It’s a great group here.”

Was he surprised to be let go again so soon?

“I think a trade is always a little bit of a surprise, but obviously the numbers speak for themselves,” Strickland said. “I didn’t have a great run in my time there [with the Angels], so it’s part of the business, part of the game and it is what it is. … I do think I got out of my delivery a little bit, was walking more guys, and obviously when you get behind in the count, it doesn’t work in your favor too often. I think that’s the overall key.”

He said it

“My sister [Katelyn], her freshman year, threw the javelin at the University of Texas before she had Tommy John. We might be the only siblings to have dueling Tommy Johns. She was right-handed Tommy John, I'm left-handed Tommy John. … I like to think I'm fairly decent at throwing stuff, but I tried one and it would have been way out of bounds. Then I tried another one and threw a grounder [to the side] and it kind of pissed me off. I was trying to do it and I was like, 'I'm going to blow out again trying to throw this stupid javelin.' But it's such a different arm action and arm pattern. My arm action is three-quarters or high three-quarters and some elbow flexion, but as soon as you don't lock out a javelin, it's going all sorts of directions. I probably would have stabbed somebody on accident if I tried to throw it.” ­-- Brett Anderson, sharing some previously-unreported family history