Josh Hader throwing shade at Padres fans twists the knife after brutal loss to Astros

At this point of the season for the San Diego Padres or any other playoff contender, every loss hurts. The Padres are still in tremendous shape in the NL Wild Card race, especially with teams like the Braves and Diamondbacks faltering, but Tuesday's loss to the Astros was still pretty brutal, as it felt like an opportunity squandered -- especially given the fact that San Diego had dominated Houston the previous night.

Unfortunately, the bad feelings did not end after the loss, as former Padre Josh Hader, who was the subject of a very questionable umpiring call upon entering the game, made sure to add an extremely not subtle jab at the Padres and their fans when talking to reporters after the game.

Josh Hader reveling in Padres fans' hatred just made loss to Astros feel even worse

San Diego fans expressing their displeasure with Hader is a combination of misplaced anger over him signing for a lot more money with a new team, as well as genuine gripes about his usage. Hader's time with the Brewers and Padres was marked by his famous refusal to throw more than one inning at a time as a way to protect his arm while he was arbitration-eligible. Now that he got his bag, he seems more than happy to throw more often, and his entrance at the end of the eighth inning on Tuesday clearly rubbed Padres fans the wrong way.

Credit to Hader where it is due here, though. He didn't give the diplomatic "I love Padres fans and their emotion" answer, or the equally boring "I was too focused on the game to notice" response. He leaned into the villain role and said, "I love this ballpark. I love pitching here. Obviously, I love the boos. Living rent-free is always a good time.”

As annoying as it is that Hader is all of a sudden willing to go the extra mile with the Astros now that he got paid, we can respect that he is embracing the fans' collective ire. Baseball needs more mini-rivalries like this.

It is also worth pointing out that Hader was much more appreciative of his time with the Padres before the series got started, and said in response to Padres fans' frustrations from 2023, "But again, it’s a team sport, so at the end of the day, if they think it falls on me, that’s just what it is.”

In short, holding Hader this accountable for how he chose to dictate his playing time probably represents a bit of overkill, as it was his career and money on the line. That said, fans should keep booing the absolute hell out of him, because he doesn't seem to mind and it makes these matchups all the more entertaining.

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