Anthony Santander’s workload through his first month with the Toronto Blue Jays is 17 starts at designated hitter and 10 in the outfield, a split weighted toward DH heavier than manager John Schneider says he anticipated coming into the season.
With Daulton Varsho due to be activated from the injured list Tuesday, Schneider aims to adjust that ratio and give Santander more work in the outfield, something the team and the slugger feel could help him at the plate.
“As an athlete, you always want to be involved in the game and have action, not being stuck on the bench,” said Santander. “The last few years, I was able to play 100-plus games in the outfield and I’m not ready to be a full-time DH. I’m still young. It’s something I’ve been talking about with the skipper, we have good communication about it. It’s going to be beneficial for the team and for me.”
Last season, Santander made 129 starts in the outfield and 25 at DH. In 2023, the split was 97/47, it was 116/34 in 2022 and 82/21 in 2021. On Sunday, he hit his third home run of the season in the second game of the Blue Jays’ doubleheader against the Yankees while starting in right field, after going 0-for-4 with a walk as the DH in the opener.
Traditionally a slow starter, he’s batting .179/.261/.302 out of the gate, a slash line that drops to .164/.240/.284 as the DH, prompting him to think “maybe I have to try to find a new routine when I DH.”
“It’s different when you play one out of three games at DH, you can’t have a routine because it’s like a recovery day,” he said of his workload split in previous years. “But when you DH every day, you have to find a way and I think I need to do a better job when I get to that. But definitely, I feel better playing the outfield. If I’m more involved in the game, I don’t have too much time to think about what happened the previous at-bat.”
Santander’s homer Sunday was a byproduct of work focusing on getting his timing at the plate more in sync with the opposing pitcher and “not jump to the ball.” He timed up a middle-up 92 m.p.h. sinker from Clarke Schmidt perfectly.
But like so many of his teammates, he’s still looking to break out of a wider dry spell, and he thinks the way for the team to correct is “to do a better job to find a way to score runs, not only waiting for the big blast.”
“I think we need to fight more in the AB, maybe make the starter work more to take them out of the game early and see the relievers,” he said.
“We have to stay positive and keep working. That’s the right mentality when you come to the ballpark, let go of the night before, come to the field with a good attitude and always ask yourself how we’re going to get better today. We’re all doing that. But it’s a tough game. Hopefully, we can get out of this stretch.”
