Outfielder Anthony Santander has yet to play in 2026 but is pushing to return this season.
Manager John Schneider said via MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson on Friday that the switch-hitting Santander has been hitting off a pitching machine in Dunedin from both sides of the plate and hopes to progress to facing live pitchers next week.
Schneider added the team is still trying to get Santander into games this season.
As Matheson notes, the most realistic path to getting Santander into games in September could require the Blue Jays to be out of the playoff picture late in the season. This would allow Santander to enter the off-season on a high note in an otherwise lost season and not have him return in the pressure-packed environment of a playoff race.
Santander had surgery on his left shoulder in February after missing most of last season with an injury to the same shoulder. Injuries have limited him to just 54 total regular-season games and an additional five playoff games during his Blue Jays tenure, which began with a five-year, $92.5 million deal two off-seasons ago.
Santander slashed .175/.271/.294 with six home runs and 18 RBI in last year’s regular season. He hit a career-best 44 home runs and drove in 102 runs while with the Baltimore Orioles in 2024.
The Blue Jays enter play Saturday two and a half games back of the final American League wild-card spot as they continue their series with the Seattle Mariners at Rogers Centre.
