When the Toronto Blue Jays signed Anthony Santander to a five-year, $92.5 million contract in the offseason, they did so knowing that he’s a notoriously slow starter.
So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that he’s 7-for-36 to start the season with just one RBI.
Santander is a career .211 hitter in April/March, which aligns with the slow starts he’s had in the past two seasons.
In 2023, Santander hit .205 in the first month of the season before only hitting .208 with a .671 OPS last April. But both of those are still better than the .194 average he’s currently sporting.
That would be the worst average he’s posted at the start of a month since he hit .196 in March/April of 2021.
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The good news for Blue Jays fans is that the first month of the season is the worst month of his career by far. He has a career average of .263 in May, .250 in June, .278 in July, .278 in August and .206 in September.
He also has a career OPS of .773, so it’s clear that he’s a good hitter.
Santander has a hard-hit rate of 26.9% this season, which is significantly less than the 41.3% hard-hit rate that he has in his career. His struggles with barreling the ball up (he has a barrel rate of just 3.8%) indicate that his timing is off at the plate, and he needs to make some adjustments.
Santander is getting under the ball more, which is affecting his contact. Out of 16 batted balls, Santander has barreled just one. For the Blue Jays offense to be its best, they’ll need him to start racking up extra-base hits in bunches.
He recorded his first extra-base hit as a Blue Jay in the form of a double against the Nationals, but fans are still waiting for his first home run as a Blue Jay.
Last season, he hit 44 home runs (the third-most in baseball), which helped him earn his first All-Star nod and Silver Slugger win.
Santander’s power complements Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the lineup, and, now that they’re both locked up long-term, there’s no way the Blue Jays will be able to succeed in the future without the both of them hitting. Santander’s experience hitting in the AL East, along with ability as a switch-hitter, makes him a valuable asset.
The Blue Jays only scored three runs in their series against the Mets over the weekend, so it’s clear their offense is in a rut. A hot streak from Santander would go a long way toward making that happen.
