Anthony Santander DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Anthony Santander went 1-for-5 with a home run and three RBI in Wednesday's 7-6 win over the Boston Red Sox. The switch-hitting veteran blasted his fourth long ball of the season off Red Sox pitcher Garrett Whitlock to tie the game 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning. Santander has never really been known for his average, but he's hitting a paltry .175 on the season. Over his last eight appearances, the 30-year-old is 2-for-31 (.064) with two home runs and an 11:4 K:BB ratio. He's walking more this season than last year, but punching out more, too, while mostly maintaining his quality of contact metrics. Not much has changed in his profile otherwise, so he'll likely turn a corner eventually. For what it's worth, Santander's average is a bit off statcast's .201 xBA.

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder/designated hitter Anthony Santander will start on the bench in Tuesday's contest against the hosting Houston Astros. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will serve as the DH and bat second, while Will Wagner will draw into the lineup at first base and hit seventh against Astros right-hander Ronel Blanco. Tuesday will be Santander's first game off of the season and will give him a much-needed break after he's gone 18-for-92 (.196) with two home runs, eight RBI, seven runs scored and 23 strikeouts in 102 plate appearances over his 23 games played. In the last four games, he has just one hit in 15 at-bats. Fantasy managers will be hoping the day off can get the Venezuelan slugger going at the plate. Guerrero is a must-start in fantasy each and every day, but he has only two hits in 10 career at-bats against Blanco.

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Anthony Santander went 0-for-4 with a strikeout in the team's shutout loss to the Astros on Monday night. The Blue Jays managed just two hits against Hunter Brown and the Astros, but it's a continuation of a rough trend for Santander, who is hitting just .196 this season with a pair of home runs and a .257 wOBA. The Blue Jays gave Santander a big five-year deal in free agency this past offseason, but the 30-year-old switch-hitter has been a big disappointment so far. His hard-hit rate has dropped from 41.4% to 35.7% and his barrel rate from 11.7% to only 4.3% this year, according to Statcast. Santander has gotten off to slow starts in the past in his career and been able to turn things around, so there's still hope he'll be a valuable fantasy asset. He's still a hold in most standard leagues, but you may have to relegate him to the bench until he finds a rhythm.