SEATTLE — The Toronto Blue Jays will be without Anthony Santander for the rest of the postseason. The switch-hitting slugger, Toronto’s biggest offseason acquisition, was removed from the Jays’ postseason roster. Outfielder Joey Loperfido took his place.
Santander, who played just 54 regular-season games this year due to a shoulder injury, dealt with back issues in October. With Santander coming off Toronto’s roster, he will be ineligible to play in the World Series, should the Jays advance. When MLB approved the move late Thursday afternoon, Santander’s 2025 season ended.
ROSTER MOVES:
OF Anthony Santander has been substituted from our ALCS roster due to injury.
He will be replaced by OF Joey Loperfido for the remainder of the series. pic.twitter.com/68FGWSwTw1
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) October 16, 2025
In the first season of a five-year, $92.5 million deal, Santander hit .175 with six homers. He posted -1.0 WAR, per Baseball Reference, and was sidelined for much of the year. The 30-year-old returned in September, hoping to re-write the narrative of his opening season with clutch moments down the stretch and into October. In five playoff games, Santander notched three hits and drove in two runs. His postseason ended with a .200 average and .450 OPS.
Santander was a late scratch from Toronto’s Game 2 lineup in the American League Championship Series due to a sore back. He returned to the batting order for Toronto’s Game 3 win against the Seattle Mariners, but was removed mid-game for a defensive replacement. He woke up with stiffness and soreness Thursday, manager John Schneider said.
“Feeling all sorts of October,” Schneider said, “And the season he has had.”
Joey Loperfido, added to Toronto’s ALCS roster an hour before Game 4, has yet to play in the postseason. His last game appearance came Sept. 23 against the Red Sox, ending the 26-year-old’s regular season with a .333 average and .879 OPS. Shortstop Bo Bichette remains out for the Jays, still recovering from a knee sprain.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa joined Toronto’s Game 4 lineup in Santander’s absence, with Addison Barger moving to right field. The Jays’ offence managed through much of the season without its big free-agent signing, finishing the year fourth in runs scored. Toronto must now push through October without him, too.
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