The Twins didn't need more bad news out of their relief corps, and now they've got it. Anthony Banda has undergone season-ending lat surgery, MLB Trade Rumors confirmed, closing the book on a 2026 campaign that had actually started trending in the right direction for the 32-year-old lefty.
MLB Trade Rumors broke the news that Banda's year is done.
Banda had been on the 15-day injured list since June 29 with a left lat strain, and surgery means he's shut down for good, with a target of being ready for spring training in 2027. Before the injury hit, he was 2-0 with a 4.46 ERA across 39 appearances and 34 1/3 innings, and he'd actually been one of Minnesota's more trustworthy arms lately, posting a 1.93 ERA over 11 outings in June.
Context makes this sting more. The Twins got Banda for next to nothing in February, plucking him off waivers after the Dodgers designated him for assignment. He quietly turned into a useful piece of a bullpen that has had almost nothing go right this year, so losing him now isn't just an injury note, it's losing one of the few relievers who'd figured things out.
And Minnesota's relief unit desperately needed him to keep figuring it out. The Twins bullpen carried one of the highest ERAs in baseball into July, a unit that's been a genuine liability for a team trying to hang around a playoff race it wasn't supposed to be in. Take away a lefty who was heating up, and that problem doesn't get any easier to fix in-house.
That leaves the front office staring down a decision it was already staring down. With the August 3 trade deadline approaching and Minnesota sitting a few games out of both the division and a Wild Card spot, the Banda injury just adds another name to the list of reasons the Twins need bullpen help, whether that means buying at the deadline or hoping internal arms step up fast.
For fantasy managers, Banda's roster spot is dead weight now, and for Twins fans it's one more domino falling in a season full of them. The bigger question is whether this pushes Minnesota to actually go get relief help before the deadline, or whether they run it back with the arms already in the room and hope for the best.