Blue Jays Star Anthony Santander Speaks for First Time Since Brutal Injury News
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The Toronto Blue Jays got a brutal dose of injury news earlier this month when it was revealed that high-priced slugger Anthony Santander could miss as many as six months following a shoulder procedure.
While the left shoulder essentially cost him any sort of production in 2025, he was supposed to come into camp healthy in the second year of his five-year, $92.5 million deal, but when he underwent surgery this offseason, a labrum injury was revealed to be worse than initially thought.
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After attempting to rehab and work his way through it over the summer, it didn't work out and surgery was needed after the season, but the result was not something he or the team saw coming.
Santander and Toronto brass spoke on the brutal update for the first time, and it sounds like all parties involved are incredibly disappointed at the way things are playing out.
Blue Jays Caught by Surprise with Santander's Surgery
"It’s not easy to deal with something like this," Santander said through an interpreter via Keegan Matheson of MLB.com after revealing that the left labral surgery need came to light while evaluating what they thought was a less serious injury.
"They didn’t know why the MRI didn’t show the labral part, how bad it was. They couldn’t explain that, the doctors. Obviously, I needed the surgery...Injuries are something you cannot control. Me, as a ballplayer coming into a new team and signing my contract, I want to be there with the guys every day. Unfortunately, things happen that are not under your control. I know some people think differently, but I know who I am. I know I’m trying my best to be on the field with my teammates."
Toronto manager John Schneider spoke about Santander as well and echoed the same sentiment that they did not know this was how things were going to play out.
"We didn’t think it was going to be this outcome. I don’t think anybody thought it was going to be this outcome," he said. "That’s the unfortunate part of it....That’s a guy who is a proven power threat on both sides of the plate, who I think is a great fit for our lineup based on how we can make contact...I’m doing everything I can to remember that, remember the years he had against us in Baltimore where he is a legitimate power threat. That’s what we want him to get back to."
Blue Jays Now Have Outfield Depth Issue
After failing to land Kyle Tucker this offseason in which clearly outfield help was searched for, losing Santander potentially for the entire season was a devastating update to the team's depth in that area.
While Daulton Varsho, Nathan Lukes, Addison Barger and Jesús Sánchez along with guys like Davis Schneider and Myles Straw, there are plenty of options, but no regular answer to the question of what the every day outfield is going to look like.
Getting creative is nothing new for Toronto however, and if that's what it takes to get production from the outfield, Schneider and the staff will make it happen. If Santander can work his way back this season then all the better, but it does seem the Blue Jays have to plan to be without him all year.
If he cannot return, it's going to be a tough pill to swallow on the first two campaigns of a near nine-figure contract.
Michael Brauner is a 2022 graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Sports Media. He covers various MLB teams across the On SI network and you can also find his work on Yellowhammer News covering the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers as well as on the radio producing and co-hosting 'The Opening Kickoff' every weekday morning on 105.5 WNSP FM in Mobile, Alabama.