2025 Fantasy Baseball: Anthony Santander Profile, Preview, Predictions
Anthony Santander hit his home run stride over the past three seasons, leading to the Toronto Blue Jays signing him to a five-year $92.5 million contract in late January.
Anthony Santander: The Home Run Extraordinaire pic.twitter.com/pguEw5IdgP
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 11, 2024
Anthony Santander, TOR (ADP – 111.6)
Over the past three seasons, Santander played in 460 games, leading to a high floor in runs (250), home runs (105), and RBIs (286), highlighted by careers in all three categories (91/44/102) in 2024. He comes off a career-best approach (strikeout rate – 19.5 and walk rate – 8.7), showcasing that Santander is more than a one-trick power hitter.
Last year, he developed into a high-volume fly-ball hitter (54.8%) at the expense of his line drive rate (14.4). As a result, his contact batting average (.300) was much lower than in 2023 (.340) due to more easy outs via infield flies (16.7%) and fly balls to the outfield. Santander has a rising average hit rate (2.150) that now ranks with the best home run hitters in baseball. He lost some momentum in his exit velocity (89.8 mph) and hard-hit rate (41.4).
After a quiet first two months (.211/27/9/29 over 190 at-bats) in 2024, Santander posted a career run in home runs (13) in June. His power swing stayed locked in July and August (.249/33/17/33 over 205 at-bats). His regression in September (.222 with 12 runs, five home runs, and 14 RBIs over 90 at-bats) almost matched his output earlier in the season.
Fantasy Outlook: Santander had a 10th to 11th-round ADP in the high-stakes market last draft season. He ranked 24th in FPGscore (3.80) for hitters, compared to 49th (1.56) in 2023. With no home park tied to his name, his price point (62nd batter drafted) is below his success over the past two seasons. Santander has settled into a 30+ home run hitter with a full-time job, with an approach to rebound in batting average if he squares up on balls. Power tends to rise in March, so his discount window will close over the next two months.
RANKINGS
Top 5 Catchers | Catchers 6-10 | Catchers 11-15
Top 5 First Basemen | First Basemen 6-10 | First Basemen 11-15
Top 5 Second Basemen | Second Basemen 6-10 | Second Basemen 11-15
Top 5 Shortstops | Shortstops 6-10 | Shortstops 11-15
Top 5 Third Basemen | Third Basemen 6-10 | Third Basemen 11-15
With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.