Why Anthony Santander will be a candidate for comeback player of the year in 2026

If Anthony Santander stays off the shelf, he's got a legitimate shot at bringing home the comeback player of the year award in 2026. The power is in there, it always has been, but injuries hindered him and he was never able to tap into his 44 home run power which he displayed the year prior in Baltimore. It's safe to say, Santander is more than ready to turn the page and head into 2026 with a clean slate.

The bigger picture on Santander

Although the Blue Jays had a phenomal run, they still need Santander to be the guy the front office signed, especially considering his five-year, $92.5 million deal. Santander is a notroious slow starter, but it ended up seeping into the heart of the season. He then suffered a left shoulder injury around the midpoint of the schedule that lingered far longer than anticipated.

It was clear he was playing through discomfort, and it was later disclosed that the issue was a shoulder subluxation. The injury sidelined Santander for close to four months, delaying his return until late September as the Blue Jays made a run toward the postseason, and ultimately, the division title. He appeared in five playoff games, batting .200 with three hits and two RBI, before another injury struck, this time to his back, which ended his 2025 campaign abruptly.

Over 54 games in 2025, Santander ended up hitting just .175 with six home runs and a .565 OPS. What makes his comeback player of the year case so compelling, is just how dominant he was in 2024, how sharp the drop-off was, and how clearly it points to a season spent less than fully healthy.

The power gap between Santander’s 2024 and 2025 seasons shows up clearly in the raw contact numbers. In 2024, he produced 55 barrels on 471 batted balls, good for an 11.7% barrel rate, while posting a 114.4 mph max exit velocity and a 35.0% sweet-spot rate, all markers of consistent impact contact. In 2025, those power indicators dipped to just six barrels on 134 batted balls, with a 4.5% barrel rate, a lower 27.6% sweet-spot rate, and a reduced 110.4 mph max exit velocity.

Albeit, the sample size is significantly smaller. His average exit velocity remained nearly unchanged (89.8 mph in 2024 vs. 89.6 mph in 2025), suggesting the raw strength was still present. If Santander is able to pair his baseline contact quality with a return to his 2024 barrel and launch profile, the underlying power numbers all point directly to a real rebound potential heading into 2026.

No matter how the rest of the offseason unfolds, whether the Blue Jays add Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette, or even both, the Blue Jays’ ceiling in 2026 is tightly connected to Santander rediscovering his power. If the 2024 version shows up again, it won’t just steady the lineup, it'll inject serious thump into the heart of it. While a down first season has understandably frustrated fans, these years can happen to any star, especially when injuries intervene. 2025 was just year one of a five-year commitment, not the final verdict by any means.