The Toronto Blue Jays will have to complete a series comeback without the services of one notable hitter.
Toronto announced on Thursday that they have removed outfielder Anthony Santander from their ALCS roster due to an injury. Santander is being replaced by fellow outfielder Joey Loperfido for the rest of the series.
The development means that Santander’s 2025 season is officially over. By rule, Santander, having now been taken off the ALCS roster, will be ineligible for the World Series (if the Blue Jays should make it that far).
Santander, a 2024 All-Star and Silver Slugger Award winner, signed a five-year, $92.5 million contract with Toronto last offseason. But he missed significant time in the 2025 regular season due to a left shoulder injury and appeared in just 54 games (batting a woeful .175 with six home runs and 18 RBIs).
The 30-year-old Santander had been marginally better in the postseason for the Blue Jays. He was batting .200 with two RBIs and a walk through five playoff games.
But even if Santander hadn’t been extremely productive, he is still a nifty switch-hitting bat who is a threat to go yard at any point (having hit 44 home runs in 2024). The Blue Jays, after going down 2-0 to the Seattle Mariners in their ALCS series, awoke during Game 3 on the road with an impressive offensive explosion. But their offense has taken a hit now that Loperfido (who has a career .689 OPS) is taking over for Santander, presumably for the rest of this postseason.
