Toronto Blue Jays Should be Patient With Star Slugger's Poor Start

The Toronto Blue Jays shouldn't panic about a slow start for their star slugger, signed in free agency last year.

May 3, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter Anthony Santander (25) reacts after hitting a double against the Cleveland Guardians during the third inning at Rogers Centre. | Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images

It has been a mediocre start to the season for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2025.

Coming into the year, hopes were high for the franchise. They were able to have a strong offseason on paper and looked like an improved team at least on paper heading into the campaign.

However, with a sub-par start to the season, Toronto might not quite be a contender in the American League still.

Surprisingly one of the main reasons for their struggles has been their offense.

This is a unit that features a lot of a talent and they recently signed their superstar first baseman Vladimir Guererro Jr. to a long-term deal. However, even Guererro is struggling to begin the year and the is reason to be concerned about the unit has performed overall.

In particular, one key member has been struggling quite a bit this campaign.

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently wrote about the struggles of Blue Jays slugger Anthony Santander and why the team should be patient with him — at least for a little longer.

“But the primary face at the epicenter of those struggles has been the big offseason acquisition who clubbed 44 home runs last season for Baltimore. Santander slugged .506 in 2024, but he had a .524 OPS a few days ago, presently on pace for around 20 home runs," Miller wrote.

Santander was a significant signing by Toronto this offseason, as the switch-hitter slugger was one of the best power hitters on the market.

In 2024 with the Baltimore Orioles, he slashed 235/.308/.506 with 44 home runs and 102 RBI.

That type of offensive projection paired with Guererro in the middle of the lineup caused a lot of excitement for the potential of the batting order, but Santander hasn’t performed anywhere near that yet.

So far in 2025, he has slashed 184/.270/.320 with four home runs and 12 RBI. One of the criticisms for the slugger this winter was that if he wasn’t hitting home runs, his value drastically drops.

Since he has never been a high on-base or batting average player, power slumps are very noticeable for his production.

Even though it is easy to panic about his production so far, Santander got off to a similar start in 2024. In April of last year, he slashed 208/.296/.375 with just two home runs. However, as the summer months came along he got hot and ended up having an excellent campaign.

For the Blue Jays, being patient with their new slugger would be wise. While April wasn’t a good month for Santander, he has started slow in the past and still ended up having a great year. Hopefully, 2025 will result in the same outcome.