The Toronto Blue Jays have gotten off to an impressive start in the opening week of the 2025 season, going 5-2 and averaging 4.5 runs per game. 
A team approach has served the offense well in the early going, with several contributors pitching in with clutch hits in timely moments. Newcomer <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-unworried-with-notorious-slow-starter-anthony-santander">Anthony Santander</a> had his best game of the season in Wednesday’s 4-2 win over the Washington Nationals, with two hits, including his first extra-base hit, and one RBI.
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Over the first seven games, the hulking outfielder has six hits (one double) through 27 at-bats, with seven strikeouts, three walks, and one RBI. The traditional stats suggest that the Venezuelan native isn’t seeing the ball well, and when he does, his swing hasn’t been on time. Out of 16 batted balls, Santander has barreled just one (6.3%), which is lower than his career average (9.9%) and far short of his barrel rate for the last three seasons, 11.16%, or about one out of every nine batted balls.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
First extra base hit as a Blue Jay for Anthony Santander 👏 <a href="https://t.co/fC2yddVBPS">pic.twitter.com/fC2yddVBPS</a>
&mdash; Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1907514634992517467?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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His strikeout rate, 23.3%, is also higher than his career average (22.2%) in the limited sample size. Some advanced numbers suggest the 30-year-old isn’t far off, and a breakout could be imminent. He’s hit the ball hard, with an exit velocity of 89.9 mph, which is just a hair below his career-high set in 2021. Santander’s Max EV (hardest hit ball) is 107.1 MPH, down from 114.4 MPH a year ago, but that could change with his first Blue Jays home run.
Tony Taters has a launch angle of 22.3, higher than his average, which suggests that he’s getting underneath the ball a bit more, as does his LA Sweet-Spot of 30.0%, significantly lower than his career mean of 33.5%. Santander has had a hard-hit rate of 43.6% over the last four seasons but has produced just 30.0% in 2025. This data suggests that he needs to alter the timing of his swing to increase his barrel rate and, ultimately, his slugging percentage.
Historically, Santander isn’t known for getting off to particularly hot starts, but this is the coldest we’ve seen the veteran slugger get out of the gates since 2021. Below are his numbers for the first six games of the last four seasons compared to his start this year.
2021 –.231 Avg. (6/26) 1 HR, 5 RBIs, .605 OPS
2022 – .400 (6/15) 2B, HR, 5 RBIs, 1.275 OPS (6 BB)
2023 – .200 (5/25) 2 2B, 1 RBI, .539 OPS
2024 – .208 (5/24) 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBIs, .700 OPS
2025 – .174 (4/23) 0 2B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .443 OPS
The numbers can change dramatically with one big game (Wednesday&#8217;s mini-breakout raised his average from .174 to .222) early in the season, and getting acclimated to a new team often affects hitters in their first weeks in a new uniform. 
The Blue Jays invested heavily in Santander to boost an offense that was among the worst in the majors in 2024. They will give him every opportunity to shake out of this slump and prove he can be the power-hitting slugger he was brought in to be. His start hasn’t been ideal, but he’s poised to rebound from it. It’s just a matter of making a few adjustments. This slow start isn&#8217;t a new trend, so the Blue Jays might be cautious if the stats don&#8217;t start to rebound in the coming month, but recent history suggests the power is due once he gets his legs under him a bit more.
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The Toronto Blue Jays have gotten off to an impressive start in the opening week of the 2025 season, going 5-2 and averaging 4.5 runs per game. 

A team approach has served the offense well in the early going, with several contributors pitching in with clutch hits in timely moments. Newcomer <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/blue-jays-unworried-with-notorious-slow-starter-anthony-santander">Anthony Santander</a> had his best game of the season in Wednesday’s 4-2 win over the Washington Nationals, with two hits, including his first extra-base hit, and one RBI.
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Over the first seven games, the hulking outfielder has six hits (one double) through 27 at-bats, with seven strikeouts, three walks, and one RBI. The traditional stats suggest that the Venezuelan native isn’t seeing the ball well, and when he does, his swing hasn’t been on time. Out of 16 batted balls, Santander has barreled just one (6.3%), which is lower than his career average (9.9%) and far short of his barrel rate for the last three seasons, 11.16%, or about one out of every nine batted balls.

https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1907514634992517467

His strikeout rate, 23.3%, is also higher than his career average (22.2%) in the limited sample size. Some advanced numbers suggest the 30-year-old isn’t far off, and a breakout could be imminent. He’s hit the ball hard, with an exit velocity of 89.9 mph, which is just a hair below his career-high set in 2021. Santander’s Max EV (hardest hit ball) is 107.1 MPH, down from 114.4 MPH a year ago, but that could change with his first Blue Jays home run.

Tony Taters has a launch angle of 22.3, higher than his average, which suggests that he’s getting underneath the ball a bit more, as does his LA Sweet-Spot of 30.0%, significantly lower than his career mean of 33.5%. Santander has had a hard-hit rate of 43.6% over the last four seasons but has produced just 30.0% in 2025. This data suggests that he needs to alter the timing of his swing to increase his barrel rate and, ultimately, his slugging percentage.

Historically, Santander isn’t known for getting off to particularly hot starts, but this is the coldest we’ve seen the veteran slugger get out of the gates since 2021. Below are his numbers for the first six games of the last four seasons compared to his start this year.

2021 –.231 Avg. (6/26) 1 HR, 5 RBIs, .605 OPS

2022 – .400 (6/15) 2B, HR, 5 RBIs, 1.275 OPS (6 BB)

2023 – .200 (5/25) 2 2B, 1 RBI, .539 OPS

2024 – .208 (5/24) 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBIs, .700 OPS

2025 – .174 (4/23) 0 2B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .443 OPS

The numbers can change dramatically with one big game (Wednesday's mini-breakout raised his average from .174 to .222) early in the season, and getting acclimated to a new team often affects hitters in their first weeks in a new uniform. 

The Blue Jays invested heavily in Santander to boost an offense that was among the worst in the majors in 2024. They will give him every opportunity to shake out of this slump and prove he can be the power-hitting slugger he was brought in to be. His start hasn’t been ideal, but he’s poised to rebound from it. It’s just a matter of making a few adjustments. This slow start isn't a new trend, so the Blue Jays might be cautious if the stats don't start to rebound in the coming month, but recent history suggests the power is due once he gets his legs under him a bit more.

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Anthony Santander is off to a slow start – should the Blue Jays be worried?

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