Santander's long-awaited first homer an encouraging sign

CHICAGO -- It was only a matter of time before Orioles slugger Anthony Santander hit his first home run of the 2023 season.

That inevitability didn’t make it any less sweet when it happened.

“That felt amazing,” Santander said of his solo blast in the sixth inning of the O’s 7-6 loss to the White Sox on Saturday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Santander’s homer -- which drew Baltimore and Chicago even -- was ultimately a footnote in a back-and-forth matchup, as the South Siders rallied to walk things off in the 10th inning.

Even so, it could prove to be a key moment for the outfielder early in this young season.

Santander has gotten off to a slow start offensively, carrying a .167/.241/.250 slash line with 19 strikeouts and five walks into Saturday’s contest. He went 12 games without a home run to start the season after hitting 33 in the 2022 campaign. That number led the Orioles and ranked 13th in the Majors.

“A little slow,” Santander said of his start to the year. “I haven’t felt good at all [mechanically], but this is a game of adjustments. [I’m] trying to be early every day to the field, make those adjustments as quick as possible to get back in shape again and give the opportunity to the team to win some games.”

Santander also recently has dealt with a sore back, which kept him out of the lineup Wednesday and Thursday against the A’s, but he pointed to his mechanics amid his slow start.

And as far as those mechanics go, Santander noted that he needs to make adjustments against fastballs. He’s hitting .167 against them this season, and fourteen of his 20 strikeouts have come on heaters.

“I've been feeling late on the fastball, so I've been working with that,” Santander said. “I see the videos and compare videos from last year, and I saw something mechanically. But like I said, it’s a game of adjustments. It’s early in the season, but we need to make those adjustments as quickly as possible.”

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde offered a similar assessment before Saturday’s game.

“Just a little bit late on the fastball for me,” Hyde said. “Just like to see him a little more on time.”

Last season, 18 of Santander’s home runs came on the fastball. He saw more heaters than offspeed or breaking pitches in 2022, but his underlying numbers on the pitch were much better than they have been this season. In ‘22, Santander’s whiff rate against fastballs was 19.9 percent and his expected slugging percentage was .471.

Entering Saturday, those same numbers stood at 34.4 percent and .231 -- in a tiny sample size, of course.

Santander hit well in five World Baseball Classic games with Team Venezuela, going .353/.450/.882 with a pair of home runs -- one off a 99 mph sinking fastball from Dominican Republic starter Sandy Alcántara.

More recently, there have been encouraging signs. Hyde pointed to Santander’s flyout in the sixth inning Friday, when he drove a 94 mph fastball from Mike Clevinger in on his hands to right field.

His home run Saturday came on a 94.2 mph four-seamer down in the zone from White Sox starter Michael Kopech. Santander reached down to crush it out of the ballpark, driving it 405 feet with a 104.6 mph exit velocity.

“I came in today, talked with the hitting coach,” Santander said. “We saw a couple of videos, and we worked a lot before the game. Of course, [opponents have] been throwing me a lot of fastballs because I'm late -- starting late, landing late. But like I said, we did great work today before the game, and hopefully it continues helping me into the season.”

The Orioles’ offense has had some impressive games early this season, but they know how important Santander is to their lineup going forward.

“He’s super important,” Jorge Mateo, who went 3-for-4 with a solo homer on Saturday, said through an interpreter. “Hopefully, now he's feeling much better from his back. He's a really big part of our lineup, a really important bat, so hopefully that'll get him going. He's a big piece for us in this lineup.”