Santander to Miss Time with Ankle Sprain

The Baltimore Orioles will be without their starting right fielder for the next two to four weeks after the 26-year old suffered an injury Tuesday night.

There was fear that Anthony Santander’s injury against Miami would be along the lines of a bone break or tendon damage, but luckily it is only an ankle sprain. He injured himself running the bases in the first inning.

Manager Brandon Hyde said that he was pleased with the results after initially expecting the worst possible diagnosis.

Santander has been placed on the 10-day injured list, with Ryan McKenna being recalled to take his spot. McKenna was sent down after Austin Hayes was activated off the injured list just days ago, but is now back in Baltimore.

It has not been the ideal start of the season for Santander, who is hitting only .196 with two home runs and eight RBIs, which may be a factor in a month’s time. Five of Santander’s 11 hits came in the first series against Boston, with the other six coming over his last 13 games.

What makes this injury significant is not only the possibility of Santander heating up towards the end of the month, but he may have to have a few games to get going again, especially if he does not do any rehab games once the minor league season begins in a couple of weeks.

Santander has proven that he can be a good hitter in the majors, hitting .267 in both 2019 and 2020. It may just be a bad stretch of games for the young hitter, but he will have to wait to get back into the groove of things.

Baltimore will finish their brief road trip in Miami on Wednesday afternoon before heading back to Camden Yards for a seven-game homestand against Oakland and the New York Yankees.