Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES, CA — Anthony Banda, a lefty reliever who’s eaten up so many innings for the Dodgers this season, has landed himself on the IL in the most embarrassing of ways. Prior to the game against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, the team announced that left-handed reliever Anthony Banda was placed on the injured list due to a fractured left hand. According to manager Dave Roberts, Banda’s injury was a result of frustration, where the pitcher hit a solid object after a disappointing outing the night before, leading to the fracture.
Roberts expressed that Banda regretted the emotional reaction and hoped the pitcher could return before the end of the season, as the fracture was only a hairline break. Banda has been a key reliever this season, maintaining a 3.23 ERA across 46 appearances. “Emotions kind of played into it, with the outing that he had last night,” Roberts said. “It’s something that I know he regrets, we all regret. And he’ll learn from it.”
The last outing for Banda this year was on Monday night in the blowout loss to the Cubs. Banda surrendered two earned runs on three hits in the loss. The Dodgers had battled back to cut the Cubs lead to 4-2 before the inning began, but after Walker Buehler surrendered a home run, Banda poured some gas on the fire and allowed two more Cubs runs to score.
So, it was a dumb move by a player who was already on the edge as far as making the post-season roster goes. Although he was good at the beginning of the year, his ERA had been heading north prior to this incident.
In his place, the team activated reliever Brusdar Graterol from the injured list earlier than planned, though not for the ideal reason. The Bazooka returns after missing a month due to a hamstring strain suffered in his season debut on August 6. Graterol’s return was initially delayed by a shoulder injury sustained during spring training. In his first game back, Graterol pitched a scoreless ninth inning, allowing two hits and reaching 99 mph with his fastball, though Roberts noted that he wasn’t yet at his sharpest.
Despite the team’s 6-3 loss to the Cubs, Graterol’s return provides the Dodgers with a critical late-inning arm as they continue to navigate bullpen challenges late in the season.
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