Yet another crushing Astros injury could deliver AL West title to Mariners

It only took about a month for the Seattle Mariners to cut the Houston Astros' lead in the AL West from 7.0 games on July 10 to exactly zero games by the end of Tuesday's action. It's a whole new race, and one that would seem to favor Seattle.

To this end, the steady drip-drip-drip of information about Astros closer Josh Hader on Tuesday ultimately revealed the Mariners to have yet another advantage.

The Astros announced in the afternoon that the six-time All-Star has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a left shoulder strain. The move is retroactive to Monday, meaning the earliest Hader can return is August 26. But from the sound of things, that may be unlikely.

Josh Hader's injury is yet another leg up for Mariners in AL West race

The Astros don't yet know how serious Hader's injury is, but manager Joe Espada didn't bother to mask his level of concern when he spoke to the media. Per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, Espada referred to the injury as a "punch in the gut."

“He’s seeing doctors right now and we’re getting more tests done and hopefully this is not going to be a long-term thing,” Espada said.

It doesn't seem coincidental that Hader's shoulder began barking in the aftermath of his appearance against the New York Yankees last Friday, when he needed a season-high 36 pitches to get through two innings. He did warm up during Sunday's game, but reported discomfort in his shoulder on Monday.

Losing Hader for any amount of time promises to be a blow to the Astros. After a rocky debut season in Houston in 2024, he has been lights out in 2025. His 48 appearances have yielded a 2.05 ERA with a 4.8 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and 28 of his 29 save attempts have been successful.

According to Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle, the Astros aren't going to tab any particular pitcher to take over Hader's closing duties while he's out. Espada is instead going to mix and match, effectively making it a closer-by-committee situation.

It's an awkward shift for a bullpen that had been having a terrific year with Hader at the tip of the proverbial spear. Houston's pen has a 3.56 ERA for the season, as well as a league-high rate of 10.27 strikeouts per nine innings.

With Hader out, the bullpen is arguably yet another area where the Mariners have an advantage on the Astros for the stretch run. They already have the better lineup, at least until Yordan Alvarez finally returns from his own injury troubles. And with a 3.07 ERA in August, Seattle's rotation is finally living up to the hype.

It's rude to kick a guy while he's down, and one does genuinely feel for Hader to have such a great season put on pause by what may be a serious injury. But if his absence ultimately contributes to the Mariners claiming their first division title in 24 years, nobody in the Pacific Northwest will regret it.