Advertisement
When the Toronto Blue Jays signed Anthony Santander this offseason, the plan was simple, bring in a proven power bat to anchor the middle of the lineup. Santander was coming off a breakout year in Baltimore, where he crushed 44 home runs, drove in 102 runs, and made his first All-Star appearance. But things haven’t gone according to plan. The 30-year-old switch-hitter has been sidelined with an injury since the end of May, and even before that, he struggled mightily at the plate, hitting just .179 with six home runs in 184 at-bats.
Ironically, the Blue Jays have taken off in his absence. Since Santander went down, the team has surged to the top of the AL East, with contributions coming from unlikely sources across the outfield. Despite the success without him, the Jays know that to make a serious run in October, they will likely need Santander’s bat to wake up. ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle emphasized this, writing that while Toronto initially believed it had solved its middle-of-the-order issues by signing Santander, they now desperately need him to recover and return to his 2024 form.
Santander has the resume to back it up. Before last year’s breakout, he had already put together solid back-to-back seasons with 28 and 33 home runs respectively. His career OPS hovers in a respectable range, and he’s long been viewed as a legitimate offensive threat from both sides of the plate. But now, as he works through his recovery, the uncertainty surrounding his return is a real concern. Can he get healthy in time to make an impact? And even more crucially, will he be effective once he’s back?
The Blue Jays certainly didn’t hand Santander a sizable contract just to watch him sit on the bench when the playoffs roll around. If he can return in time for the final stretch and find his rhythm, his bat could be a game-changer in tight postseason matchups. For now, Toronto is winning games without him, but in the long run, they know that their best chance at going all the way probably includes Anthony Santander doing what he was brought in to do, deliver big hits when it matters most.