The Most Surprising Ex-National Thriving in the World Series

Another year, another season of the rebuild. To conclude the 2024 season, only two players on the active roster remained from the 2019 World Series team. Patrick Corbin, who will almost certainly not be returning, and Tanner Rainey, who has a 50/50 shot of not returning next season as well. 

Looking around the rest of the league, 13 former Nationals were on a team that made the playoffs. Besides the most notable, Juan Soto, Trea Turner, and Bryce Harper, players like Lane Thomas, Kyle Schwarber, and Jesse Winker all made an impact on their respective new teams. The player that I am most happy for is Daniel Hudson returning to the World Series, as the now 37-year-old has solidified himself as a dominant reliever, and has made an incredible comeback after debating retirement post tearing his ACL in 2022. Buddy threw 63 innings this season, his most since 2019, with a 3.00 ERA and 10 saves for LA. Looking through the other former Nationals in the playoffs, good memories come to mind when looking at Joe Ross, and even Blake Trienen, before stumbling upon a name that has sadly not been etched out of my memory: a man named Anthony Banda. 

With four Nationals remaining in the World Series, Banda by far made the lowest impact to out organization. It goes without saying what Juan Soto and Daniel Hudson did for us, and we had our moments with Blake Trienen. Anthony Banda is a different story, so let me cut to the chase. Anthony Banda was one of the worst relievers to ever put on a Nationals uniform, and that is saying something. We have had to witness Chad Kuhl, Sam Clay, Wander Suero, and other failures, but Banda may be towards the top of the list. It was never for a lack of stuff, but I was fully convinced then when Anthony Banda threw a baseball, he had 0.00% confidence as to where the pitch was going. Fast forward to a year later, and Banda is pitching, and thriving, in the World Series. 

His career with the Nationals was uneventful, to say the least. Signed to a minor league deal in 2023 after being let go by the New York Yankees, Banda was selected to the Opening Day Roster out of Spring Training. He was quickly designated for assignment on April 30th after 10 appearances, allowing 5 runs, 5 walks, and 9 hits in 7 innings good for a 6.43 ERA. Banda cleared waivers and was actually converted into a starter for Triple-A Rochester, with some mixed, but mostly bad results: a 9.23 ERA over 65 1/3 innings. Easy to say even the Nationals, even with how little depth we had at the time, had no trouble letting him go. 

Banda was signed by the Cleveland Guardians ahead of 2024 and was seemingly figuring it out in Triple-A with them, before being traded to the Dodgers for cash in May. Banda put together a terrific 2024 season, with a 3.08 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 49 2/3 innings. With a 4.92 career ERA it is hard to wrap your head around the career revival for Anthony Banda, but let’s take a peek at the numbers. 

It’s hard to believe Banda considered retirement this past offseason and even gave up throwing for a month to see how he would feel on the other side. Banda felt rejuvenated, and he has always had a good fastball, but this season at 96.1 mph is the highest of his career. The biggest game changer has been the incorporation of a new pitch: the slider. New this year, Banda has thrown the pitch 28.2% of the time with a “spiked grip”, with the help of Dodgers personnel. The results speak for themselves, with a .152 opponent batting average and run value that puts him toward the league's best. Banda registered a career-high in almost every category and has proved himself on the biggest stage. 

Turning into a high-leverage reliever on the best team in baseball, Banda has a 1.23 ERA this postseason, striking out 10 batters in 7 1/3 innings. His dominance has been highlighted by the slider, with being effectively wild. It has been quite the turnaround for Banda, and I may have been the last one to expect it. I have no ill will towards the Nationals organization at all for letting Banda go, as nine other organizations before us did the same thing. The Dodger's development is just a different beast. They are on a whole different level, and Banda is just another successful experiment.