{"id":554534,"date":"2026-02-04T17:25:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T17:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/554534\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T17:25:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T17:25:19","slug":"anthony-banda-not-a-lock-for-dodgers-opening-day-roster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/554534\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Banda Not a Lock For Dodgers Opening Day Roster"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Anthony Banda is not a lock on the Opening Day roster, according to team insider Jack Harris.<\/p>\n<p>Banda is set to battle for a roster spot alongside Jack Dreyer, Ben Casparius, Justin Wrobleski, Will Klein, and Edgardo Henriquez.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStill, there\u2019s much to be decided during camp. Banda and Dreyer both present options for further lefty depth,\u201d Harris wrote for <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/02\/sports\/los-angeles-dodgers-2026-opening-day-roster-projection\/?utm_term=Autofeed&amp;utm_campaign=capost_sports&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter#Echobox=1770069680\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The California Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Dodgers bullpen struggled mightily throughout 2025 and the team will be looking to make improvements to the unit this spring.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Dodgers-reliever-Anthony-Banda.jpg\" alt=\"Anthony Banda\" class=\"wp-image-297698\"  \/>Oct 29, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Anthony Banda (43) pitches during the seventh inning against the Toronto Blue Jays during game five of the 2025 MLB World Series at <a href=\"https:\/\/dodgersnation.com\/dodger-stadium\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dodger Stadium<\/a>. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn ImagesHow Did Anthony Banda Perform in 2025?<\/p>\n<p>Banda posted a 3.18 ERA with 61 strikeouts across 65 innings pitched last season. The left-hander served as a middle-relief option as he recorded a career-best 11 holds in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>The Dodgers also used him as an opener in a regular season game against the Philadelphia Phillies to face the top of the order which featured multiple left-handed hitters.<\/p>\n<p>Banda appeared in the postseason, making scoreless appearance in both the NL Division Series and Championship Series. He struggled in the Fall Classic, allowing six earned runs across three innings pitched.<\/p>\n<p>The left-hander played a key role in the Dodgers\u2019 2024 World Series run, where he tossed 2.1 scoreless frames against the New York Yankees. In order to make the Opening Day roster, Banda will have to prove he can be that same pitcher this spring.<\/p>\n<p>What is Anthony Banda\u2019s Walkout Song?<\/p>\n<p>Banda is a Dodgers fan favorite and there would certainly be disappointment surrounding his absence on the Opening Day roster.<\/p>\n<p>Banda\u2019s walkout song is arguably one of the most popular amongst Dodgers fans with Selena\u2019s hit song \u201cBidi Bidi Bom Bom\u201d blasting from the Dodger Stadium speakers every time he jogs out of the bullpen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI grew up in the Corpus Christi area. Selena\u2019s from there, big part of it, of that culture. And everybody down there loves Selena. I just figured a little bit of a hometown heritage, I guess you could say,\u201d Banda said of why he chose the Tejano anthem as his walkout song.<\/p>\n<p>What is the best Dodgers walkout song? Dodgers Nation compiled a list of the <a href=\"https:\/\/dodgersnation.com\/what-are-the-best-dodgers-closer-walkout-songs\/2026\/01\/04\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">best Dodgers walkout songs from closers<\/a> throughout franchise history.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sab-icon\" src=\"https:\/\/dodgersnation.com\/path\/to\/app-icon.png\" alt=\"App icon\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\"\/><\/p>\n<p>LA Baseball Report<\/p>\n<p>Get the app for faster news<\/p>\n<p> <a id=\"sab-cta\" class=\"sab-cta\" href=\"#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">GET<\/a> \u00d7    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Anthony Banda is not a lock on the Opening Day roster, according to team&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554535,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[8934,5,39,1165,4332,4333,774,57,3224,4331,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-554534","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-dodgers","8":"tag-anthony-banda","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-dodgers","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-la-dodgers","13":"tag-ladodgers","14":"tag-los-angeles","15":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","16":"tag-losangeles","17":"tag-losangelesdodgers","18":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116013533601943190","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}