This isn’t the way that a team with World Series aspirations wants to head into spring training. The Toronto Blue Jays have learned that outfielder Anthony Santander will once again be a non-factor for much of 2026. He will be undergoing shoulder surgery and will be out until well into the second half of the season.
Labral surgery in his left shoulder will keep the slugger out for five-to-six months.
Santander also missed four months last year with left shoulder issues, which obviously were never resolved. He tried coming back in late September and then took part in five games during the ALDS & ALCS, where he had 15 at-bats and hit .200.
According to manager John Schneider, time off in the offseason wasn’t of any help for Santander.
“He was resting and rehabbing in November and December, then he kind of had a setback when he started ramping up with his hitting earlier in January,” Schneider said, per mlb.com. “He came over to the complex, got checked out and did everything we could to avoid this. At this point, after what we dealt with last year and in talking with Tony, this is the best possible way to get him back to 100 percent. This is unfortunate timing, obviously.”
Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins does not feel that this new development with Santander will force the team into doing anything drastic.
Beat writer Ben Nicholson-Smith quoted Atkins as saying that the team is “not significantly” looking to get involved in the outfield market for a replacement.
What does the loss of Santander mean for the Blue Jays?
This season, with Addison Barger taking over right field on a fairly permanent basis, with newcomer Kazuma Okamoto playing third base and George Springer getting most of the DH at-bats, they’ll still have the likes of Nathan Lukes, Davis Schneider and Myles Straw to split time in left. It could also mean more oppportunity for Joey Loperfido, and any prospect that’s ready to step up.
The loss of Santander for most of the season sounds devastating to an outsider. He did, after all, hit 44 home runs as recently as the 2024 season, his last year in Baltimore. But Jays fans are quite aware of how inconsequential the Venezuelan outfielder was during the 2025 season and the run to the World Series.
Santander hit just .179 through the end of May with six homers before going down with his shoulder injury. He was also irrelevant for the handful of games he played in September/October.
So, can Toronto get by and have a playoff-bound season without their $92.5 million outfielder/DH? Definitely. But were they counting on a little more return on that investment this season? Absolutely.
