TORONTO — Anthony Santander is trying to get back into the groove of hitting by finding his rhythm again.
The struggling designated hitter belted a two-run homer in the fifth inning to lift the Toronto Blue Jays over the San Diego Padres 3-0 on Tuesday. It was Santander’s team-leading sixth home run of the season but his batting average remains below .200.
“It’s kind of like you’re dancing with a pitcher, you’re trying to be nice and smooth,” said Santander. “You’re not jumping to the ball, you’re calm and you just let the ball get deep on you, and try to go straight to the button and react like I did on the pitch, on the homer.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., also had a home run for Toronto (23-24) in the victory, moving he and Santander into a tie with Daulton Varsho for the most home runs on the Blue Jays.
Santander, however, has not been hitting for a good average. His 1 for 3 night against San Diego improved his batting average to .185 and his on-base plus slugging percentage to .592.
A career .242 hitter with 161 home runs over nine seasons, Santander said that his struggles in his first season in Toronto are because he is still trying to rediscover that rhythm, a process made more difficult by opposing pitchers — obviously — trying to mess with his timing.
“But that’s part of the game. They try to mess up your timing,” said Santander. “But when you have that rhythm, you’re ready to go at any time, you know?
“That’s something that we practice before the game, and then you have to continue doing it so you can be ready at the first pitch.”
Right-fielder George Springer returned to the lineup after resting in Toronto’s 3-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Sunday. He batted cleanup, moving Santander to sixth in the lineup.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said that he’s confident that Santander will find his way again.
“It’s trying to just take a little pressure off of him, you know?” said Schneider. “No matter where you hit a guy who’s grinding a little bit, they seem to come up in big spots and today he didn’t let us down.”
Santander signed a five-year, US$92.5 million contract with the Blue Jays on Jan. 20 after eight seasons with the Baltimore Orioles. He said that his slow start isn’t because he’s trying too hard to justify the lucrative contract.
“It might look like I’m trying to do too much, because I used to swing hard all the time, but right now, we are out of the rhythm,” said Santander, who added that he’s not 100 per cent with a sore hip and shoulder.
“It doesn’t look pretty, but I’m working on it to have that rhythm back and it won’t look like I’m trying to do too much.”
PITCHER’S DUEL DECLINED — Chris Bassitt has learned the hard way that when he’s up against another great pitcher like San Diego’s Dylan Cease it’s not on him to win the duel.
“I really try not to focus on who’s pitching,” said Bassitt. “I’ve done it in the past, and I’ve kind of been burned by it. (…) You go up against a guy like Cease, and then it’s like, ‘all right, I’m trying to do more to hold them down.’
“Usually, trying to do more is always the wrong answer. So I’ve learned, to not really care who’s pitching because I’m not facing them.”
Bassitt (4-2) had a quality start, striking out six and allowing four hits and a walk over six scoreless innings. Cease (1-3) struck out six and gave up just three hits and one walk over seven innings, but allowed three runs.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 20, 2025.
John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press
