DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) — Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Anthony Santander will miss much of the upcoming season with a shoulder injury, manager John Schneider announced Tuesday at spring training.
Schneider said Santander will have labrum surgery on his left shoulder Wednesday and is expected to be sidelined for five to six months.
It’s another disappointing turn for Santander, who had 44 homers and 102 RBIs with Baltimore in 2024. He signed a $92.5 million, five-year contract in free agency to join the Blue Jays last offseason, but struggled badly at the plate and played in just 54 games during an injury-plagued Toronto debut.
“Kind of had a setback when he started ramping up with his hitting earlier in January and came over to the complex, got checked out, and we kind of did everything we could to avoid this,” Schneider said.
There was more bad news for the Blue Jays on Tuesday: Right-hander Shane Bieber, the 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner, has forearm fatigue and won’t be ready for opening day.
Schneider said the team is being extra cautious with Bieber and expects him to be a major contributor this season.
Bieber was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery when he was acquired from Cleveland at the July 31 trade deadline last year. He made his season debut Aug. 22 and pitched 40 1/3 innings for Toronto during the regular season, going 4-2 with a 3.57 ERA in seven starts. But he threw 18 2/3 innings in the postseason with a 3.86 ERA and helped the Blue Jays come within one win of a World Series championship.
“In talking to him and talking with our medical team, just decided that the best possible outcome would be this,” Schneider said. “Slow play it a little after going through what he went through in the postseason and the World Series.”
Blue Jays right-hander Bowden Francis will miss the entire season after undergoing UCL reconstruction surgery Wednesday.
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