Anthony Banda DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Brent Honeywell (fingernail) was placed on the 15-day IL on Thursday with a cracked right fingernail. It is another tough loss for a pitching staff that has gone through the wringer this year in terms of injuries. Honeywell has been a quality relief option that can pitch multiple innings and can be used in any situation, so it'll be tough for the Dodgers to replace come playoffs. The severity of the injury is unknown, but he will be out until at least part of the way through the Wild Card series due to his placement on the IL. Anthony Banda was activated off the IL and is taking Honeywell's spot, so the news isn't all bad for the Dodgers.

Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Anthony Banda threw a clean ninth inning to preserve a 3-2 win over the Oakland Athletics and pick up his first save of the season. The lefty struck out one and needed just 12 pitches to finish off the A's. It is yet another interesting development in the Dodger's closer situation, which seems nearly impossible to figure out. Any of Evan Phillips, Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia, Daniel Hudson, or now Banda could be in the mix for saves and we will seemingly never know which is the preferred option. It's an absolute mess of a situation, but in saves-plus-holds leagues any of those five are solid options.

The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired left-hander Anthony Banda from the Cleveland Guardians on Friday in exchange for cash considerations. Banda will head to the Dodgers after posting a 2.12 ERA and 0.94 WHIP with six walks and 25 strikeouts in 17 relief innings for Triple-A Columbus this year. The 30-year-old southpaw will likely report to Triple-A Oklahoma City now and will operate as left-handed relief depth for the Dodgers moving forward. Banda was originally a 10th-round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2012 out of San Jacinto College. He made his big-league debut back in 2017 with the Arizona Diamondbacks and has pitched in the majors with seven different teams since then. Overall, he has a 5.69 ERA and 1.63 WHIP with one save, a weak 19.9% strikeout rate and an 8.9% walk rate.

The Cleveland Guardians have signed left-hander Anthony Banda and catcher Dom Nunez to minor-league deals. Both players will receive an invitation to big-league spring training. Banda, 30, made 10 appearances with the Nationals in 2023, posting a 6.43 ERA while walking 14.3% of the 35 hitters he faced across just seven innings of work. He also struggled to a 7.58 ERA across 33 outings (10 starts) at Triple-A a season ago. Nunez, 29, didn't appear in the big leagues in 2023 but rather spent the season at Triple-A between the Pirates and Cubs organizations. He combined to hit just .187 with five home runs and a .637 OPS across 63 games. In the big leagues, he has hit .180 with 12 home runs and a .653 OPS across 111 appearances, all with the Rockies in parts of three seasons from 2019-2022.