This Baltimore Orioles Slugger Has Been ‘Biggest Shocker’ for Team in 2024 Season

A Baltimore Orioles slugger has exceeded all expectations during a production 2024 campaign.

Sep 24, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; Baltimore Orioles right fielder Anthony Santander (25) hits a solo home run during the sixth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles are limping into the 2024 MLB playoffs as their offense went ice cold down the stretch of the regular season.

There are a lot of concerns for the team, as they don’t look like the World Series contender they did in the first half. Injuries have played a part and the pitching staff is one big question mark beyond Corbin Burnes and Zach Eflin in the rotation.

Despite that, this isn’t a team that should be taken lightly. They showed how dominant they can be when things are clicking and they have several dangerous batters in their lineup.

One of those players is slugging outfielder Anthony Santander.

He has been a consistent source of power in the middle of the team’s lineup, but he wasn’t the first name that came to mind as an impact player. That has changed in 2024, as he was named the team’s biggest shocker for the year.

“Though it was his seventh year with the Orioles and ultimately a good one, it felt in 2023 like Santander was just another guy in Baltimore's lineup. That can happen when a guy is competing for oxygen with young stars like Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman.

This is certainly not the case in 2024, wherein Santander has climbed to fifth on the all-time list for switch-hitters with a 44-homer outburst. Not a bad season under any circumstances, but least of all with free agency looming for him this winter,” Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report worte.

The only player who has provided more power for their team in recent seasons than the Orioles power hitter is New York Yankees outfielder, Aaron Judge. Whenever you are mentioned in the same capacity as the soon to be two-time MVP, you are doing something right.

A switch-hitting outfielder, Santander is going to be a very popular target in free agency. There isn’t a team he wouldn’t benefit from adding a player of his caliber to their lineup.

What makes his production this season even more impressive is that his exit velocity and hard hit percentage are both his lowest since 2020. Despite that, he is having a career season at the plate.

An All-Star this season, his future could lie as a designated hitter, but he can hold his own in right field. But, his real value is in the power of his bat, which has become one of the most feared in baseball.