The emotional pain was far worse than the physical pain for Anthony Banda, the Dodgers reliever who suffered a hairline fracture in his left hand when he hit what manager Dave Roberts called a “solid object” with his pitching hand in frustration after giving up two runs in a Sept. 9 game against the Chicago Cubs.
“It was very embarrassing, very shameful,” said Banda, a mid-May acquisition from the Cleveland Guardians who had carved out a higher leverage role by going 2-2 with a 3.23 ERA in 46 games before going on the 15-day injured list. “I really felt like I let everybody down.”
As sheepish as Banda felt about the incident, he wanted to make an important clarification.
“I didn’t punch anything,” Banda, 31, said. “I hit the outside of my fist against a paper towel dispenser out of frustration, and apparently, I hit the weakest bone just right, to where it fractured.
“I’m not saying that’s OK to do, but it’s not as bad as what people thought as far as me punching something straight on. I don’t do that with anything, because there’s a risk. I look at it as more of a freak accident, but yes, it was a learning experience.”
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Once the swelling in the hand subsided, Banda was able to resume playing catch four days after suffering the injury. He threw his first bullpen session Thursday and followed that with a 30-pitch bullpen workout before Saturday night’s game against Colorado in which his fastball was clocked between 94-96 mph and his slider was sharp.
Banda is scheduled to throw live batting practice on Monday, and Roberts said he expects Banda to be activated when he is eligible to come off the IL either Wednesday or Thursday.
“The most frustrating thing is this entire time, I didn’t have any pain or soreness, just some swelling in the hand,” Banda said. “But the fact that it’s responding well and I haven’t lost any ability to spin my pitches or add velocity is a huge plus. It was a big scare, but at the end of the day, when I get active, I want to put it behind me and do everything I can to help this team.”
Part of the healing process was apologizing to his bullpen mates.
“They understand the frustration…