The Phillies are bringing Tanner Banks back into the mix.
Philadelphia reinstated the left-hander from the 60-day injured list and cleared the roster spot by designating infielder Christian Cairo for assignment. The club also optioned right-hander Grant Holman to Triple-A.
Banks’ season has been a rough one on the surface. He posted a 7.14 ERA across 29 innings, and the Phillies even shipped him to Triple-A for a couple of weeks in an effort to get him back on track.
After he returned, Banks was tagged for five earned runs in 1 1/3 innings over two appearances before a forearm strain sent him to the 15-day IL on July 9. He was moved to the 60-day IL later in July, and now he’s back for the final two weeks of the regular season.
There’s at least some reason to think the results have been worse than the arm. A .404 BABIP has played a big role in the ugly line, and Banks’ 8.9% walk rate is nearly double his 4.5BB% from 2025. His 4.03 SIERA paints a friendlier picture of his 2026 work, and that mark isn’t far off from the 3.41 SIERA he put up in 2025 while logging a 3.07 ERA over 67 1/3 innings out of the Phillies’ bullpen.
Banks also entered the year with a solid track record. From 2022-25, he was generally an effective reliever for the White Sox and Phillies, so the club can reasonably hope the early struggles were a mix of bad luck and the forearm issue that surfaced right before his injured-list stint.
That matters now, because Philadelphia needs every bullpen arm it can get while it stays in the playoff race. The Phillies have a middling 4.19 ERA against left-handed hitters this season, and Banks’ ability to handle lefties should help there.
For Cairo, this is a tougher turn. He’s a career minor leaguer with a .232/.359/.313 line over 1189 plate appearances at Triple-A.
Cleveland took him in the fourth round of the 2019 draft, the Braves picked him in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft, and then he was returned to the Guardians before the 2025 season began. He later signed a minor league deal with the Phillies last offseason and briefly had his contract selected before Opening Day, though that move was only to satisfy an upward mobility clause in his deal.
After that, Cairo spent the entire season at Lehigh Valley. Now he’s in DFA limbo for the first time in his career. If he clears waivers, he cannot reject an outright assignment, but with the minor league season ending in a week, Philadelphia could simply release him if he’s on track for minor league free agency anyway.
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