Most random Yankees reliever of all time is dominating in Dodgers' bullpen

Remember when Matt Blake and the Yankees took a flyer on Anthony Banda to eat some innings during a bleak bullpen stretch? Of course you don't! The bespectacled Banda was a total shot in the dark who appeared in 2/3 of an inning across two games for the 2022 Yankees.

His numbers will make you turn your head, but only because they were so crazy bad: two hits, five walks, three earned runs. 40.50 ERA ... but, hey, a 27.11 FIP! Clear growth potential here.

Unfortunately, the Yankees were unable to take advantage and help Banda reach his ceiling. The lefty returned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and continued to muddle along, wrapping the campaign with a 6.14 ERA at the level in 7 1/3 innings.

That stalled progress bled into 2023, when he posted a (look away) 7.58 ERA in 33 appearances/65 1/3 innings with the Washington Nationals' Triple-A club in Rochester. But somehow ... some way ... something clicked when he joined the Dodgers' farm this offseason. It always seems to, doesn't it?

Banda, now 30 years old, posted six walks and 25 Ks in 17 effective Triple-A innings in Oklahoma City this year. He more than earned a promotion to help the slapdash big-league bullpen, and since arriving has established himself as one of the Dodgers' best relievers/a true wipeout artist. And all we can do is blink.

What has gotten into Dodgers lefty (and former Yankees journeyman) Anthony Banda?

In 34 1/3 MLB frames this summer, Banda has 36 strikeouts and a 2.10 ERA. He's not an elite chase-inducer (45th percentile), but still racks up plenty of whiffs in the zone (75th percentile). He does it all, according to Statcast, inducing soft contact and rarely allowing it in the first place. There's not much to say here, other than the Dodgers were able to unlock something in the ex-top prospect's arm, and they were able to do it quickly.

Meanwhile, the 2022 Yankees got Andrew Heaney'd on a much smaller scale here, conned into an unsuccessfully stunted attempt to unlock talent. They found the right pupil, but used the wrong methods and based their efforts on an incorrect timeline. But, other than that ... nailed it.