Blue Jays’ Santander works three walks in final game of triple-A season
Anthony Santander was back in action on Sunday as the triple-A Buffalo Bisons wrapped up their regular-season schedule with a 15-8 loss to the Rochester Red Wings.
The 31-year-old was back in Buffalo's lead-off spot and played eight innings defensively in left field before being replaced in the ninth.
At the plate, Santander went 0-for-2 with three walks, two runs scored and one strikeout.
He worked his first free pass in the bottom of the first after winning a nine-pitch battle with Red Wings starter Connelly Early, fouling off three two-strike offerings before seeing ball four.
His second walk came on four pitches in the second, and his third on six pitches in the fourth.
After a strikeout in the sixth, Santander was retired on a 68.3 m.p.h. lineout to short in the eighth.
It followed a two-hit outing for the Toronto Blue Jays outfielder on Saturday, when the switch-hitter recorded his first extra-base knock of this rehab stint with a ninth-inning double.
Sunday marked Santander's fifth game of this rehab assignment. He initially took the field for the Bisons in a pair of games last week, but was scratched from Buffalo's lineup on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week with mid-back discomfort.
He is now 4-for-17 with four walks and four strikeouts across those five appearances for the Bisons.
With Buffalo's season officially concluded, Toronto will now decide what comes next for the 2024 Silver Slugger award winner.
If the Blue Jays conclude that he isn't quite able to join the team for their final playoff push after the weekend, he will join a "stay-ready" group of players in Buffalo, taking live at-bats and getting reps in case anything changes with the major-league team.
Santander signed a five-year, $92.5-million contract with the Blue Jays in the 2024-25 off-season and hasn't played yet this season. He also missed most of last year with an injury to the same shoulder.
In his limited games last season, he slashed .175/.271/.294 with a .565 OPS and six homers.
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