Anthony Santander

Anthony Roger Santander

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 230 lb.

• Debut August 18, 2017

• Born October 19, 1994 in Margarita, Nueva Esparta Venezuela

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Biographical Information

Outfielder Anthony Santander was picked by the Baltimore Orioles from the Cleveland Indians in the 2016 Rule V Draft. He did not make the team out of spring training in 2017, but made his debut later that season, on August 18th. Starting in RF against the Los Angeles Angels, he went 1 for 4 with a run scored and a pair of strikeouts in a 9-7 win.

When Anthony had his 6th multi-home run game on May 17, 2022 against the New York Yankees and lost, 6-2, it marked the 6th time the Orioles had taken a loss when he had hit more than one homer. Santander is the only player in MLB history to lose the first 6 such games of his career. On May 19th, he hit a walk-off homer off Lucas Luetge of the New York Yankees to give the Orioles a 9-6 win; it was the first walk-off blast by an Orioles batter since Rio Ruiz had managed one back in 2019. The O's did not have to wait as long for the next one, as in their next game on May 20th it was teammate [Rougned Odor]] who hit a walk-off blast, this one against the Tampa Bay Rays. He hit .240 in 152 games that season, with 33 homers and 89 RBIs - both career highs to that point - and an OPS+ of 120. The Orioles had shown marked improvement in 2022, but in 2023 took a huge step forward, finishing in first place in the AL East. Anthony was the longest-tenured player on what was a markedly young team and he played 153 games as the starting rightfielder, contributing 28 homers and 95 RBIs. His OPS+ was at 121. He made his postseason debut that year, going 3 for 13 with a home run as the Orioles were swept by the Texas Rangers in the Division Series.

In 2024, the Orioles could no longer sneak up on people, but he was at his best in terms of power numbers, making the All-Star team for the first time. A highlight for him came on August 23rd when he hit a clutch grand slam off Bryan Abreu of the Houston Astros in the bottom of the 8th to erase a 5-2 deficit and send the Orioles on their way to an eventual 7-5 win over a potential postseason foe. The Orioles had been sputtering since the All-Star break after an outstanding first half, and the hope was that the spectacular win would put the team back on track. On September 9th, he reached the 40-homer mark in a season for the first time of his career; he was only the eighth switch-hitter to reach the mark, including Mickey Mantle who had done so four times, and also the eighth player in Orioles history to have a 40-homer season, the most recent two having been the work of Chris Davis in 2013 and 2015. He finished the season at .235 in 155 games - ironically, his lowest batting average since his sophomore season - with 44 homers and 102 RBIs. He also recorded personal best marks with 91 runs and 58 walks and his OPS+ was 134. That earned him a Silver Slugger Award for the first time, but in the postseason, he was limited to a single in 8 at-bats by the Kansas City Royals' pitching staff as the Orioles were swept in the Wild Card Series.

Santander became a free agent after the 2024 season, and after a long pursuit, it was the Toronto Blue Jays who won the bidding for his services on January 20, 2025, with the offer of a five-year deal worth $92.5 million. The Blue Jays were all out in trying to sign him, having missed on the bidding for other prominent free agents they had pursued over the previous couple of years, most notably Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes and Roki Sasaki. What they were getting however was a player who had recently turned 30 and whose "career year" the previous season came with a number of obvious holes - starting with the fact that no one considered him more than a passable defensive outfielder.

Bizarrely, he has a rather large fan club in the United Kingdom. This came under accidental circumstances, when a large group of boy and girl scouts from the UK attending a jamboree in the Baltimore area came to watch a game at Camden Yards in August of 2019, with seats in the left field bleachers. They made Santander their hero of the day, he responded warmly, and a fan club was born. When they returned to their home country, the young spectators created a social media page in support of their now-favorite player and it became a hub for the small but passionate community of British baseball fans.

Notable Achievements

• AL All-Star (2024)
• AL Silver Slugger Award Winner (2024)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 4 (2019 & 2022-2024)
• 30-Home Run Seasons: 2 (2022 & 2024)
• 40-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2024)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 1 (2024)

Further Reading

• Thomas Harrigan: "The switch-hitter headed for a quiet 40-HR season", mlb.com, August 27, 2024. [1]
• Keegan Matheson: "Blue Jays sign slugging OF Santander to 5-year deal", mlb.com, January 20, 2025. [2]
• Keegan Matheson: "Santander embraces 'new brothers,' old connections in Toronto", mlb.com, January 21, 2025. [3]
• Jake Rill: "Santander's clutch grand slam electrifies O's, Camden Yards crowd", mlb.com, August 24, 2024. [4]
• Jake Rill: "Santander elated to join 'pretty special' club of switch-hitting titans", mlb.com, September 11, 2024. [5]
• Joe Trezza: "This Oriole is absolutely beloved in the UK", mlb.com, March 23, 2021. [6]

Related Sites

• Anthony Santander on mlb.com