Anthony Santander on his big homer season, hopes to stay an Oriole and more

TORONTO – It did not come as a surprise when Anthony Santander said yet again on Thursday afternoon that he would like to remain an Oriole beyond the 2024 season.

He can be a free agent this winter and any club could try to sign him. He confirmed that he and the team have not had any in-season contract talks. But this is where he wants to stay, if it works out for him to do that.

“I want to stay here,” Santander said pregame Thursday in the visiting clubhouse at Rogers Centre. “This is the team that gave me the opportunity to play in the big leagues. I like where we are right now. We are a really good team. This team is about to get in a World Series soon – hopefully this year. Of course, I would like to stay here for the rest of my career. But it’s out of my hands. Just get ready for today’s game and go for the win, you know. But at the same time, so happy and thankful for the fans that want me to stay here.”

Santander has picked a good time to have a great walk year, the season leading up to free agency. He is on a pace to hit 48 homers and drive in 110 runs. He hit two homers Wednesday night to give him 34 for the year – a new career-high, topping the 33 he hit in 2022. He has 46 games to add to that total.

One reason Santander is having a big year is that he is hitting all pitches pretty well this season. While his slugging percentage is .500 against fastballs, it is even better versus breaking balls at .519 and much better at .721 versus offspeed pitches. Last year he slugged .368 against offspeed.

“I started making that adjustment last year and carried it into this year. Baseball is hard. We have to be able to hit everything. Everyone is throwing 97 (mph) now and they have good offspeed too. Think I am doing a really good job with the hitting coaches, preparing myself to see how they will attack me each game. We’re doing a good job with that,” he said.

In addition to bashing the ball so well this year, O’s manager Brandon Hyde has seen Santander, who turns 30 in October, become more and more of a leader in the clubhouse. The man born in Venezuela has the respect of every player that wears the orange and black.

“That has been fun to watch. He’s come a long way,” said Hyde. “The last couple of years you’ve seen him take more ownership of that. The first few years in the big leagues you are just trying to survive a little bit and figure things out. Really these last two years he’s been a staple and speaking up.

“You know, we have a great relationship. Issues come up and he’s in my office, he wants to talk. He wants for us to do things right, do things well. Little details matter to him.”

Hyde believes that when Santander’s locker was near players like Rougned Odor, Robinson Chirinos and going back further Freddy Galvis (all three from Venezuela), the Venezuelan-born Santander watched and learned about clubhouse leadership.

“Anthony’s smile and way he speaks, he’s very, very liked. It’s easy to pull for him and he does a great job pulling for others.”

On the field Santander is leading too. Bashing homers and making great plays as he did Wednesday to rob Vlad Guerrero Jr. of a game-tying double. 

“Some nights we’ve jumped on his back," said Hyde. "Because he wants to win so bad. And is playing so well defensively for us and then the homers. You hear him in the dugout – really encouraging others. Just playing outstanding baseball."

And the longballs keep coming. Through Thursday night, he has hit 11 in his last 21 games, and he leads the majors with 25 in 60 games since June 1.

“I would stay sticking with my routine every day and staying consistent,” he cited as reasons for more homers this year as well. “Doesn’t matter if I go 0-for-4. Have the right mentality to come back to the field every single day to prepare my body to compete every single pitch.”

And during the recent tough stretch for the club that began late in June, there was Santander trying to encourage everyone, especially the young players, to play hard and get back to the winning.

“Sometimes we have guys who tried to do too much. I remind them to breath and relax. When you do that, all the results are going to come. When they don’t try to do too much, they do a great job because they are so talented,” he said.

Driven to win, Santander is putting up his best year as an Oriole. What a special Rule 5 draft pick he has turned into. He has developed as a player and shown what he can do on the O's watch and now that the Orioles are winning and he is thriving, he wants to see it through.