Santander elated to join 'pretty special' club of switch-hitting titans

This story was excerpted from Jake Rill’s Orioles Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

BOSTON -- Anthony Santander slugged his 39th home run of the season on Aug. 31 at Coors Field, adding to his career-high total. It put the 29-year-old outfielder on the cusp of a historic 40-homer milestone -- in the landscapes of both the Orioles and MLB.

Then, Santander’s power disappeared a bit as September arrived. Through the first eight days of the month, his home run total remained at 39. So, he began to hear it from his mom, Yoleida.

“My mom was telling me all the time, ‘Hey, when are you going to hit a homer? Hey, I’m waiting for it.’” Santander recalled with a smile. “I said, ‘Mom, we don’t hit a homer every day. You have to wait for it.’”

The wait ended Monday night at Fenway Park, where Yoleida and Santander’s dad, Roger, were both in attendance to see arguably the biggest moment of their son’s eight-year big league career thus far.

Santander swatted his 40th home run -- a seventh-inning leadoff shot during Baltimore’s 12-3 loss at Boston -- and became a member of two illustrious groups in the process.

There are now eight players who have hit 40 homers during a season in O’s franchise history, as Santander joined Chris Davis (53 in 2013, 47 in ‘15), Brady Anderson (50 in 1996), Hall of Famer Frank Robinson (49 in ‘66), Mark Trumbo (47 in ‘16), Jim Gentile (46 in ‘61), Rafael Palmeiro (43 in ‘98) and Nelson Cruz (40 in ‘14).

Santander also became the eighth switch-hitter in AL/NL history to record a 40-homer campaign, joining Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle (54 in 1961, 52 in ‘56, 42 in ‘58, 40 in ‘60), Lance Berkman (42 in 2002, 45 in '06), Hall of Famer Chipper Jones (45 in ‘99), Mark Teixeira (43 in ‘05), Carlos Beltrán (41 in ‘06), Todd Hundley (41 in ‘96) and Ken Caminiti (40 in ‘96).

“That’s pretty special to be a part of with those great players,” Santander said.

A Rule 5 Draft pick of the Orioles prior to the 2017 season, Santander never hit more than 20 homers over his first five big league seasons. However, he also didn’t play more than 110 games any of those years due to various injuries.

Santander showcased his power potential in 2022, when he set new career highs in homers (33) and games played (152). Then, he hit 28 more while playing 153 games in ‘23.

This year, Santander has already played in 140 games -- second most for the banged up Birds behind only Gunnar Henderson’s 144 -- and has been a fearsome middle-of-the-order bat while being named a first-time All-Star. The only MLB players with more homers than Santander this year are the Yankees’ Aaron Judge (51) and the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani (46).

Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde (hired prior to the 2019 season) saw potential in Santander early in his tenure.

“What I liked about Tony early on -- 2019, ‘20 -- was he was a hitter first,” Hyde said. “I remember from the first Spring Training in ‘19 the way he would drive the ball the other way left-handed. I liked the righty swing, also. And then, as he’s gotten older, he’s learned how to hit with more power. That happens a lot of times with guys in their mid-to-late 20s of figuring out what pitches they can drive.

“So Tony, just taking it to another level from a development standpoint of really maturing as a hitter and tapping into his power and what kind of player he can be. ... I’m proud of him.”

As for Santander, it was never a top goal for him to produce a 40-homer season. His objectives are to stay healthy and “to go out there and compete at 100 percent” while attempting to help the defending American League East champion Orioles win as often as possible.

It turns out that mentality happened to work out quite well for Santander this season.

“I know I have the power, and it's not that easy to hit a baseball,” Santander said. “I'm so happy, grateful and proud to be able to hit 40 homers.”