Toronto — Anthony Santander isn’t trying to justify his contract or silence critics. He’s trying to dance again.
The Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter showed signs of breaking out of his early-season funk on Tuesday night, launching a two-run homer in the fifth inning to help lift his team past the San Diego Padres 3-0. It was Santander’s team-leading sixth home run of the season—good news for a player still searching for his swing.
“It’s kind of like you’re dancing with a pitcher,” Santander explained after the game. “You’re trying to be nice and smooth. You’re not jumping at the ball. You just let it travel, and then go straight to the button.”
The swing looked smoother. The result certainly was. But Santander knows one game doesn’t solve everything.
The 29-year-old is still batting just .185 on the season, despite the power surge. His on-base plus slugging percentage remains under .600—a far cry from his career norms. It’s been a challenging transition after signing a five-year, $92.5 million deal with Toronto in January, ending an eight-year stint with the division rival Baltimore Orioles.
Santander insists his struggles aren’t about the pressure of a new contract or market.
“It might look like I’m trying to do too much because I’ve always swung hard,” he said. “But right now, I’m just out of rhythm.”
Timing Is Everything
Santander’s diagnosis of his slow start centers on timing. Pitchers are actively working to disrupt his rhythm—speeding up, slowing down, changing angles. That’s baseball. The real challenge is internal: syncing back up with his instincts at the plate.
“When you have that rhythm, you’re ready to go at any time,” he said. “It’s something we practice before every game. You just keep doing it until it shows up when it matters.”
It did Tuesday. Santander’s fifth-inning homer gave Toronto breathing room in what was shaping up as a classic pitcher’s duel. Chris Bassitt tossed six scoreless innings for the Blue Jays, while Padres ace Dylan Cease was nearly as sharp—except for a pair of mistake pitches that ended up over the fence.
Finding the Right Spot
Blue Jays manager John Schneider shuffled the lineup before the game, sliding Santander down to sixth and returning veteran George Springer to the cleanup spot. The move paid off.
“It’s about taking pressure off him,” Schneider said. “You want to give him a chance to reset. But guys grinding like he is? They always seem to come up in big spots.”
Santander seized the moment. Still, he admits he’s not fully healthy, dealing with nagging soreness in his hip and shoulder. That only complicates the search for rhythm—but he’s not using it as an excuse.
“It doesn’t look pretty right now,” he said. “But I’m working on it. I know it’ll come back.”
Big Picture
For a Blue Jays team stuck just under .500 (23–24), Santander rediscovering his rhythm could be a turning point. Toronto needs his bat in the middle of the order, especially with sluggers like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Daulton Varsho sharing the home run lead but lacking consistency.
No one’s expecting Santander to carry the team. But if Tuesday was a glimpse of what’s to come—a smoother swing, better timing, and clutch results—the Jays might finally have the spark they’ve been missing.
Sometimes it just takes one dance to find the beat again.
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