Blue Jays Slugger Anthony Santander Rehabs With Bisons

By: Brian Frank

Anthony Santander hopes to return to the big leagues this season to help the Blue Jays. The switch-hitting slugger, who belted 44 home runs and drove in 102 runs for the Baltimore Orioles last season, signed with Toronto during the offseason but injured his left shoulder and has been out of Toronto’s lineup since late-May.

The Margarita, Venezuela, native told The Herd Chronicles that his shoulder has been responding well during the early stages of his rehab stint with the Bisons, which began Thursday night.

“Shoulder-wise, really good,” Santander said following Friday night’s game at Rochester. “Very strong, very loose. I think I’m able to be normal in my swing. And body wise, way better than I thought. This is kind of like mini-spring training. After you miss a lot of time, you need to get your body used to it—it’s been responding really good.”

Santander batting for the Herd in Rochester. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

In his first game with the Buffalo, Santander belted a 396-foot home run deep over the right-field wall at Rochester’s Innovative Field.

“When you miss a lot of time you just want to see a lot of pitches and try to hit the ball on the barrel,” he said. “That’s what I’m looking for—and by chance I made good contact, and it was a homer.”

Santander has also been seeing the ball well at the plate, drawing a pair of walks in each of his first two games with the Herd.

“I’m seeing the ball pretty well, especially after the first ABs,” he said. “It’s really tough here (in Rochester) with the shadows—it’s really bad in center field. But I’m seeing the ball pretty good.”

The 30-year-old is unsure how many rehab games he’ll need before he feels comfortable enough to return to the Blue Jays’ lineup.

“No idea,” he said. “It’s kind of tough because when you miss a lot of time, there’s a lot of things involved batting wise—timing and all that stuff. Hopefully I can bounce back really quick, so I can go back and do my part with the team.”

Santander’s return may be complicated a bit by the fact that he’s a switch-hitter. So far, all his plate appearances with the Bisons have been against right-handed pitchers, which means the switch-hitting Santander has only batted left-handed. He’s yet to test his injured shoulder in game action against a left-handed hurler, when he would bat right-handed and have his recovering left shoulder leading his swing. Also, any rehabilitating player would need a certain number of at-bats to be ready to return to the big leagues, but as a switch-hitter, Santander may need more at-bats in order to test himself batting both right- and left-handed.

“It’s kind of challenging,” he said. “Especially the injury that I have. I have to really (use) the arm both ways (as he mimicked his swing). We’ll see what’s going to happen when they bring in a lefty. But so far, I’ve been feeling really good.”

With Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in February at spring training. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

Blue Jays manager John Schneider said there are many variables at play as to when Santander can rejoin the big-league club.

“It’s basically what pitches he’s swinging at, how hard is he hitting it, and what’s his bat speed like,” Schneider said. “We’ll look at some mechanical things that he has been working on—or wanting to work on while he was hurt. So, those things basically. It’s like, when I think of him, it’s a guy that can impact the ball, hit the ball over the fence, so I think you look at those things.”

The Blue Jays skipper added that that the decision on when Santander is ready to rejoin the Blue Jays will be made by a number of people—with Santander having a big say in the matter.

“I think (Casey Candaele), our hitting coaches here, our hitting coaches there, and Tony,” Schneider said. “It was pretty clear what we were looking to see from him—us messaging that to him. So, trusting his feedback. And Casey’s a big part of it too. He’s seen enough, and he knows what Tony looks like when he’s good. So, a little bit of everything.”

Schneider said that Santander will continue to be the Bisons designated hitter through this week in Rochester and will then play some outfield next week when the Bisons return to Sahlen Field.

Santander at spring training. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

After such a long rehabilitation process, Santander believes getting back and contributing to the Blue Jays this season would mean a lot to him personally—and would also help him prepare for next season.

“It would mean a lot, especially after missing four months,” he said. “I can focus now and get my timing these couple games and try to help the team when I come back. Finish the season strong and just go to the offseason to prepare for next year.”

He’s drawn inspiration from how well the American League leading Blue Jays have been playing and been impressed with how the team has been able to get contributions from players throughout the entire roster.

“They are doing a really good job and we’re sitting in first place right now,” he said. “That’s kind of motivated me to work hard and try to come back and do my part.”

“The way they’re playing really hard—they never give up,” he continued. “I think we are the best in baseball at coming back. That means we’re engaged in the game. We play hard pitch by pitch—stay in the moment. I think the bottom of the lineup is doing a really good job. The guys on the bench, when they do pinch-hit, that kind of stuff, makes the team really complete. I would say that’s one of the reasons we’re in first place right now—everybody’s doing their job. I’m so proud of the team.”