DUNEDIN, Fla. — Anthony Santander is back at the bottom of the mountain again, staring up. His left arm immobilized in a sling to keep his shoulder still, he’s just hoping to play baseball this season, but that feels far away right now.
That left shoulder injury was the anchor that dragged down Santander’s 2025 season, the first of a five-year, $92.5 million deal in Toronto. He hurt himself, played through it, rehabbed for half a season and returned just in time for part of the postseason run, but it never quite worked. Now, he’s back at zero.
Speaking Wednesday morning for the first time since last season, Santander said that the MRIs he underwent mid-season, around the time of the injury, showed nothing. He rehabbed most of the summer, and after a back issue knocked him off the postseason roster, Santander and the Blue Jays decided to work on more rehab, more strength for that shoulder. It wasn’t until January, when Santander started hitting again, when something started to feel “weird” again. That led to more tests, which leads us to today.
“When I finally had the surgery, when they opened up, they could see that I needed it,” Santander said through club interpreter Hector Lebron. “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.”
The obvious question here was why Santander did not have surgery last season, which would have left him healthy for a fresh start in 2026, but it sounds like both he and the organization thought that surgery could be avoided.
“We didn’t think it was going to be this outcome. I don’t think anybody thought it was going to be this outcome,” manager John Schneider said. “That’s the unfortunate part of it.”
Frustration doesn’t suit Santander. He came to Toronto with a reputation for being a great teammate and big personality, all of which seems to ring true in the rare moments he’s been healthy, but this is clearly wearing on him. It’s also clear that Santander has heard some of those questions about his health coming from the outside.
“It’s not easy to deal with something like this,” Santander said. “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.”
There’s no quick fix now. Santander’s undergone surgery and he won’t be moving his shoulder much at all in the coming weeks, let alone swinging at a bat. Shoulder surgeries are complicated because shoulders, themselves, are complicated.
There are still four years left on this deal, though, and while this has been a nightmarish start for Santander, the Blue Jays have no other choice but to look ahead. When they signed Santander, he was fresh off a 44-homer season in Baltimore. The Blue Jays are still left chasing a piece of that.
“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,” Schneider said. “That just gives you another way to try to win. 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.”
Santander is now left to hope that the entire 2026 season plays out like the second half of ’25, with a hot Blue Jays team and plenty of runway to work with.
Initial estimates are “five to six months” for Santander’s rehab, but we’ll have a much clearer picture of the timeline by June.
“Hopefully, this year goes the same way and we have a good start and win a lot of games. That will give me more time for my shoulder to take it slower, strengthen my shoulder and go through the entire process better without feeling the need to rush,” Santander said. “Hopefully, we’ll see where we’re at when we get there. If it doesn’t work, obviously the other option is to wait until next year, but I hope it doesn’t go that way.”
The Blue Jays are hoping for the same, but they’ll need to prepare this roster as if they’ll be without Santander for the season as he makes another long, slow climb back up the mountain.
