Santander signing looking like a dud so far for the Toronto Blue Jays
The start of Anthony Santander’s tenure with the Toronto Blue Jays has gotten off to a worst start than anybody could have imagined.
Santander was the Blue Jays’ biggest get in the offseason, as they signed him to a five-year, $92.5 million. The deal helped restore some confidence amongst Blue Jays fans, who were a very frustrated bunch after the organization missed out on several other free agents they had been targeting.
Santander joined the Jays following a career-year with the Baltimore Orioles in which he had 44 home runs and 102 RBI in 155 games. He was expected to come in and help improve a Blue Jays offence that struggled to put runs on the board in 2024. So far, however, he’s struggled to make much of an impact at all.
Through 39 games, Santander has just five home runs and 16 RBI. While that is disappointing, it’s made significantly worse by the fact that he’s hitting just .187 with 41 strike outs.
Though the 2024 All Star has never been a big on base player, he still hit a respectable .233 in 2024, and an even better .257 in 2023. It can be an adjustment for players switching organizations, specifically one like Santander who had spent his entire eight-year career with the Orioles. That said, the Jays need him to snap out of this funk in a hurry.
The silver lining here is that despite 2024 being Santander’s best season to date, it wasn’t just a one-off in terms of success. He hit 28 home runs in 2024, and had 33 in 2023. That track record indicates that things will turn around, but it is starting to become a concern the longer these struggles are continuing.
The Blue Jays currently sit third in the AL East with a 21-23 record. They’ll be looking to improve upon that while also hoping Santander can begin to get out of his funk starting today in an afternoon matchup versus the Detroit Tigers.