The Minnesota Twins have lost a player for the rest of the 2026 season.
The Minnesota Twins bullpen was a major talking point heading into this season after trading their two best arms at the time in Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran at last year's trade deadline without making many significant improvements this past offseason.
Those two players were not the only significant losses as well. They also moved on from Louie Varland, who is now an All-Star for the Toronto Blue Jays this year. They also dealt away right-hander Brock Stewart and Danny Coulombe.
The Twins have attempted to replace the production internally with their younger arms. They also have signed plenty of aging veterans to minor-league deals.
One of their most notable additions to replace those arms came via the trade market. The Twins acquired left-hander Anthony Banda from the Los Angeles Dodgers this past winter to become one of their better bullpen options and at the very least eat up valuable innings.
Banda has done exactly that. He posted a 4.46 ERA across 39 appearances, not exceptional by any means, but the Twins do not have many better options and he has played his role well. Unfortunately, the Twins will not be seeing Banda on the mound anytime soon. He was placed on the 15-day injured list back on June 29 with a left lat strain, and the worst case scenario has now come to fruition.
"Anthony Banda had surgery to repair his lat and is out for the season. Said he expects to be ready for spring training," reported Dan Hayes of The Athletic.
With Banda now shut down for the year, he will look to come back and be a factor next season. He will still be under team control, giving the Twins at least something to look forward to on that front.
For now, Minnesota will have to continue relying on younger arms to eat up innings unless they make additions to the bullpen via free agency or the trade market. That could be troubling if the Twins play meaningful games in October, which is still months away but not out of the question.
Even after Thursday's loss against the Cleveland Guardians, they remain within striking distance in a weak American League. That could change if they sell off pieces at the deadline, but that does not appear likely unless they are overwhelmed with offers.
Losing Banda stings, especially considering he brings valuable postseason experience, having played a role in the last two World Series and helping the Dodgers capture back-to-back titles.
