In case you need a distraction from the incredibly cursed game going on, here&#8217;s a random Blue Jays transaction&#8230;

The team announced on Saturday afternoon that they&#8217;ve acquired left-handed pitcher Anthony Banda from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for cash considerations.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
OFFICIAL: We&#39;ve acquired LHP Anthony Banda from the Pirates for cash considerations. 
Welcome to the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlueJays</a>! <a href="https://t.co/AdipNVsA4e">pic.twitter.com/AdipNVsA4e</a>
&mdash; Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1543286016546684928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Originally drafted by the Brewers in 2012, Banda has pitched for the Diamondbacks, Rays, Giants, Mets, and Pirates in his professional career. He was claimed off of waivers by the Pirates last August and put up a 3.42 ERA over 25 appearances as a reliever.
This season, Banda has a 6.41 ERA, though his peripheral numbers suggest he&#8217;s been better than that ugly ERA would show. He&#8217;s striking out 10.1 and walking 2.1 batters per nine and has only allowed three home runs through 19 2/3 innings.
While this isn&#8217;t a big-name addition, it makes sense for the Blue Jays to be adding a left-handed arm to the bullpen. Right now, Tim Mayza and Matt Gage are the only lefty arms in the bullpen as Tayler Saucedo and Andrew Vasquez are on the Injured List.
At a glance, it seems like picking up an arm who wasn&#8217;t even good enough to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates isn&#8217;t exactly ideal, but the Pirates also traded away Clay Holmes, who&#8217;s now an elite reliever for the Yankees, for a pair of Quad-A players. That&#8217;s not to say that Banda is Holmes, of course, but he&#8217;s worth a gamble despite being a Pirate castoff.
In a corresponding move, the Blue Jays have shifted Julian Merryweather from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.
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In case you need a distraction from the incredibly cursed game going on, here's a random Blue Jays transaction...



The team announced on Saturday afternoon that they've acquired left-handed pitcher Anthony Banda from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for cash considerations.

https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1543286016546684928

Originally drafted by the Brewers in 2012, Banda has pitched for the Diamondbacks, Rays, Giants, Mets, and Pirates in his professional career. He was claimed off of waivers by the Pirates last August and put up a 3.42 ERA over 25 appearances as a reliever.

This season, Banda has a 6.41 ERA, though his peripheral numbers suggest he's been better than that ugly ERA would show. He's striking out 10.1 and walking 2.1 batters per nine and has only allowed three home runs through 19 2/3 innings.

While this isn't a big-name addition, it makes sense for the Blue Jays to be adding a left-handed arm to the bullpen. Right now, Tim Mayza and Matt Gage are the only lefty arms in the bullpen as Tayler Saucedo and Andrew Vasquez are on the Injured List.

At a glance, it seems like picking up an arm who wasn't even good enough to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates isn't exactly ideal, but the Pirates also traded away Clay Holmes, who's now an elite reliever for the Yankees, for a pair of Quad-A players. That's not to say that Banda is Holmes, of course, but he's worth a gamble despite being a Pirate castoff.

In a corresponding move, the Blue Jays have shifted Julian Merryweather from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.

<hr />

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