Anthony Santander stays on scorching home run pace with historic night

This season has been filled with ups and downs for the Orioles. They're currently in a dogfight with the Yankees for the AL East lead, entering play Thursday just a half game back of first place. One thing that has been a constant this year is Anthony Santander hitting home runs.

Despite a cold start to the tune of a .211 average and .752 OPS in 51 games, Santander has ignited as the weather has warmed up and it's been vital to the Orioles offense. Against the Nationals Tuesday night, Santander belted his 36th home run of the season, which also set a new franchise record for most home runs in a single season by a switch-hitter.

Despite the disappointing loss, Santander is still near the top of the MLB home run leaderboard. He's third in all of baseball in home runs, as only Aaron Judge with 42 and Shohei Ohtani with 37 have more than Santander. Since June 1, he has 27 home runs in 64 games, the most in the major leagues.

He's already passed his previous single season high, that being 33 homers in 2022. With 36 at this point, surpassing 40 long balls seems like a lock, and even a 50 home run season isn't too far out of reach for the Orioles slugger.

This is all coming at the perfect time for Santander. He's set to hit the open market this offseason, and though he wants to stay in Baltimore, there will be plenty of teams lining up to secure his services on the heels of his career season.

Last year, Santander was worth 2.6 fWAR. This year, he's already up to 2.9. His strikeout percentage has dropped from 23.2 percent last year to 19.1 percent so far this year. He ended last year with a 119 wRC+ and is already at 135 this year.

Furthermore, he ranks in the 85th percentile in expected slugging percentage, 81st percentile in barrel percentage, 79th percentile in whiff percentage, and the 88th percentile in batting run value, all according to Baseball Savant.

While things have been in flux all season long for the Orioles pitching staff, Santander has been the steady power bat the team has desperately needed while also providing solid defense in right field. He's a big reason wny the Orioles are where they are, and keeping him around should be a top priority this offseason.