Switch-hitting Santander makes Orioles homer history

BALTIMORE -- Last week, Anthony Santander set a new career high for home runs. On Tuesday night, the 29-year-old continued his torrid homer tear, making a bit of Orioles history in the process.

Santander swatted his 36th home run of the year in Baltimore’s 9-3 loss to Washington at Camden Yards. It marks the most homers from an O’s switch-hitter in a season, breaking the previous franchise record of 35, set by Ken Singleton in 1979.

Only two players in MLB have more home runs than Santander in 2024 -- Yankees slugger Aaron Judge (42) and the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani (37). Santander’s previous career best was 33 in ‘22.

Entering June, Santander was hitting .211 with nine home runs through 51 games. Since then, the eight-year MLB veteran has batted .268 with 27 homers in 64 contests, the most home runs by any big league player over that span.

“It’s just the consistency with my routine, my work ethic, coming to the field to be able to prepare my body to go out and compete at 100 percent,” Santander said of his success in early August.

“Tony has been kind of notorious for a slower start and then ramping up as he goes. But the work is always outstanding,” O’s co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller recently said. “The work that goes on outside of the field is what propels him to have that success on the field.”

Before games, Santander watches video of the previous three outings from that night’s opposing starting pitcher. He’ll identify which pitches are most likely to come in each count.

That’s why Santander felt comfortable swinging at a 3-0 offering from Nationals right-hander Jake Irvin in the third inning. Irvin tossed a 94.9 mph sinker into the strike zone, and Santander belted it a Statcast-projected 400 feet into Baltimore’s bullpen. (And, as one may now expect, into the hat of reliever Cionel Pérez, who has caught four O’s homers in such fashion this year.)

A 2016 Rule 5 Draft pick and a first-time All-Star this season, Santander has 147 home runs over 706 games for the Orioles. But the past 2 1/2 months may be the best of his tenure, as he’s put himself on pace for 48 homers this year. Only two O’s have previously reached the 50-homer mark -- Chris Davis (53 in 2013) and Brady Anderson (50 in 1996).

“Just a really, really smart hitter,” Fuller said of Santander. “It just is so fun to watch. There’s not anything distinctly different, no major changes. His preparation is elite, and when he does that, he gives himself a really good chance to be successful, like he has been.”

Baltimore (70-50) has scored only four runs during a two-game losing skid, with two coming via Santander solo homers.

The three runs vs. Washington weren’t enough support for left-hander Trevor Rogers, who has had a tough start to his time with the Orioles. The 26-year-old allowed five runs over five-plus innings in his Camden Yards debut, yielding seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts.

In three starts since being traded from Miami to Baltimore, Rogers has a 7.53 ERA, giving up 12 earned runs over 14 1/3 innings. He pitched to a 4.53 ERA in 21 starts for the Marlins to open the season.

“It’s all about execution, being unpredictable,” Rogers said. “I had a good stretch there for a while. It’s baseball. I’m going to have a couple of rough spots here and there. I’ve just got to keep doing my thing, keep working, and I know I’ll get back to it.”

Coming off a 5-5 road trip that featured series against Cleveland, Toronto and Tampa Bay, the Orioles couldn’t open this six-game homestand on a strong note. It’s been a continuation of an up-and-down second half thus far for the club.

Baltimore hasn’t won more than two straight games since a three-game streak that sandwiched the All-Star break. At the same time, it hasn’t dropped more than two in a row since a three-game skid from July 21-24.

“We’re really inconsistent. We’re giving up way too many runs. Tonight, I didn’t think our at-bats were real good,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We’re not moving the line offensively enough. Our swings can get really big at times, and we need to improve on that.”