Winning a home run contest with Gunnar Henderson? Veteran Anthony Santander showing young O’s how it’s done
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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
Soon after reporting for spring training, Anthony Santander approached teammate Gunnar Henderson with an idea: a friendly season-long home run contest.
The veteran outfielder saw the sky-is-the-limit potential in Henderson, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year. Santander envisioned years of 40-plus home runs in the shortstop’s future as the Baltimore Orioles‘ cornerstone. But the season is long, he thought. They could use the competition to nudge each other through the grind.
Henderson accepted. On cue, Henderson banged 18 home runs through May. Santander had half as many.
“I started a little slow,” Santander said in Spanish this week. “He started, ‘Boom!’ So in June I told him, ‘Kid, I need you to keep going, because I’m going to hit 10 home runs this month.'”
Santander sold himself short. He hit 13 in June, solidifying a timely breakout campaign that has continued through August. Santander on Tuesday cracked his 37th home run of the season, four more than Henderson and tied with Marcell Ozuna for third most in the majors. Only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani have hit more.
Santander and Henderson form one of just two duos in baseball with 30-plus home runs. Judge and Juan Soto is the other.
“Now he’s the one that’s like, ‘Keep going, going,'” Santander said with a laugh. “And that’s how we’re going. We have that good competition going.”
With all the attention the Orioles’ wave of young talent has rightfully garnered, Santander has soared under the radar as an indispensable member of a team seeking its second straight AL East title. The switch-hitter’s 37 home runs are already a career high. His .824 OPS — second on the club to Henderson — would be a career best for a non-shortened season. His 82 RBIs lead the team.
In July, Santander earned his first All-Star Game nod in what is perhaps his final season in Baltimore; the 29-year-old from Venezuela is slated for free agency, and likely a life-changing payday, this winter. It’s a remarkable ascent for a 2016 Rule 5 pick who joined the Orioles with a surgically repaired right shoulder and not a single game above High-A on his résumé.
“It’s been fun to watch Anthony really come into his own these past five years and become a really good major league player in the middle of the order,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said.
Hyde was hired to replace Buck Showalter before the 2019 season, two years after Santander became an Oriole and one year into the organization’s agonizing, down-to-the-studs rebuild. Santander, however, got to share a clubhouse — briefly — with players who were part of the Orioles’ previous playoff core: All-Stars Manny Machado, Adam Jones, J.J. Hardy and Mark Trumbo. That experience guided him through all the losing: the 47-win, rock-bottom season in 2018; the 54-win struggle in 2019; and the 52-win nightmare in 2021.
“I think that’s what kind of helps guide the team to where it’s at today,” said Cedric Mullins, another veteran outfielder who weathered the storm at the turn of the decade. “We’ve been able to understand what it’s like to really go through those types of years. We’ve been able to see what winning teams do and how they go about things on the day to day. We try to incorporate that and a lot of guys have fallen in line with that and we’ve seen the results.”
Sure enough, the results were better in 2022, as the Orioles won 83 games and Santander posted career highs in hits, home runs and RBIs. Last year was Baltimore’s coming-out party: 101 wins and a division title, plus another strong season for Santander.
This year, the Orioles, battling with the New York Yankees for the AL East crown, are among the World Series favorites in a wide-open race. It could be Santander’s final stretch calling Camden Yards home.
Santander said he wants to stay in Baltimore, but the club has not engaged his representatives with extension talks. Santander has his deficiencies — he’s batting .236 with a .304 on-base percentage, the metrics indicate he isn’t a strong defender even though he boasts elite arm strength, and he is a below-average baserunner — but front offices value power highly, and he has plenty of it.
Juan Soto headlines this offseason’s free-agent class. Behind him, Teoscar Hernández, Santander and possibly Cody Bellinger — if he opts out of his current contract — should be the winter’s most sought-after outfielders.
“Obviously, it’s something you think about because it’s something that’s going to be there in the future, but I focus on the moment,” Santander said. “What do I have to do to be able to get there? It’s going well, but there’s still six weeks to go. Anything can happen. The most important thing is to remain healthy.”
Health hasn’t been an issue this season. Santander has started 121 of the Orioles’ 129 games — 102 in right field and 20 as the designated hitter. He was the right fielder Tuesday when his two-run home run gave Baltimore a 2-0 lead in an eventual 9-5 win against the New York Mets at Citi Field.
The blast — his 26th batting right-handed this season — moved him to within three home runs of becoming the eighth switch-hitter ever to hit 40 in a season, and it expanded his lead on Henderson with less than six weeks to go.
“Whichever one of us is ahead, it’s just like, ‘Keep going,'” Henderson said. “Because the one that’s behind is always like, ‘Yup, I’m going to catch him.’ It’s fun to have that guy to compete with. We’re having fun with it.”
The 2025 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby is fast approaching — and the field is set.
Braves hometown hero Ronald Acuna Jr. became the first player to commit to the event, which will be held at Truist Park in Atlanta on July 14 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN). He was followed by MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, James Wood of the Washington Nationals, Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins, Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays, Brent Rooker of the Athletics and Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the New York Yankees.
On Friday, however, Acuna was replaced by teammate Matt Olson.
With all the entrants announced, let’s break down their chances at taking home this year’s Derby prize.
Full All-Star Game coverage: How to watch, schedule, rosters, more
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 434 feet
Why he could win: Olson is a late replacement for Acuna as the home team’s representative at this year’s Derby. Apart from being the Braves’ first baseman, however, Olson also was born in Atlanta and grew up a Braves fan, giving him some extra motivation. The left-handed slugger led the majors in home runs in 2023 — his 54 round-trippers that season also set a franchise record — and he remains among the best in the game when it comes to exit velo and hard-hit rate.
Why he might not: The home-field advantage can also be a detriment if a player gets too hyped up in the first round. See Julio Rodriguez in Seattle in 2023, when he had a monster first round, with 41 home runs, but then tired out in the second round.
2025 home runs: 36 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: It’s the season of Cal! The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest slugging first halves in MLB history, as he’s been crushing mistakes all season . His easy raw power might be tailor-made for the Derby — he ranks in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and delivers the ball, on average, at the optimal home run launch angle of 23 degrees. His calm demeanor might also be perfect for the contest as he won’t get too amped up.
Why he might not: He’s a catcher — and one who has carried a heavy workload, playing in all but one game this season. This contest is as much about stamina as anything, and whether Raleigh can carry his power through three rounds would be a concern. No catcher has ever won the Derby, with only Ivan Rodriguez back in 2005 even reaching the finals.
2025 home runs: 24 | Longest: 451 feet
Why he could win: He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s awesome, he might or might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This is the perfect opportunity for Wood to show his talent on the national stage, and he wouldn’t be the first young player to star in the Derby. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, so he can still muscle the ball out in BP even if he slightly mishits it. His long arms might be viewed as a detriment, but remember the similarly tall Aaron Judge won in 2017.
Why he might not: His natural swing isn’t a pure uppercut — he has a pretty low average launch angle of just 6.2 degrees — so we’ll see how that plays in a rapid-fire session. In real games, his power is primarily to the opposite field, but in a Home Run Derby you can get more cheapies pulling the ball down the line.
2025 home runs: 20 | Longest: 479 feet
Why he could win: Buxton’s raw power remains as impressive as nearly any hitter in the game. He crushed a 479-foot home run earlier this season and has four others of at least 425 feet. Indeed, his “no doubter” percentage — home runs that would be out of all 30 parks based on distance — is 75%, the highest in the majors among players with more than a dozen home runs. His bat speed ranks in the 89th percentile. In other words, two tools that could translate to a BP lightning show.
Why he might not: Buxton is 31 and the Home Run Derby feels a little more like a younger man’s competition. Teoscar Hernandez did win last year at age 31, but before that, the last winner older than 29 was David Ortiz in 2010, and that was under much different rules than are used now.
2025 home runs: 16 | Longest: 463 feet
Why he could win: If you drew up a short list of players everyone wants to see in the Home Run Derby, Cruz would be near the top. He has the hardest-hit ball of the 2025 season, and the hardest ever tracked by Statcast, a 432-foot missile of a home run with an exit velocity of 122.9 mph. He also crushed a 463-foot home run in Anaheim that soared way beyond the trees in center field. With his elite bat speed — 100th percentile — Cruz has the ability to awe the crowd with a potentially all-time performance.
Why he might not: Like all first-time contestants, can he stay within himself and not get too caught up in the moment? He has a long swing, which will result in some huge blasts, but might not be the most efficient for a contest like this one, where the more swings a hitter can get in before the clock expires, the better.
2025 home runs: 23 | Longest: 425 feet
Why he could win: Although Caminero was one of the most hyped prospects entering 2024, everyone kind of forgot about him heading into this season since he didn’t immediately rip apart the majors as a rookie. In his first full season, however, he has showed off his big-time raw power — giving him a chance to become just the third player to reach 40 home runs in his age-21 season. He has perhaps the quickest bat in the majors, ranking in the 100th percentile in bat speed, and his top exit velocity ranks in the top 15. That could translate to a barrage of home runs.
Why he might not: In game action, Caminero does hit the ball on the ground quite often — in fact, he’s on pace to break Jim Rice’s record for double plays grounded into in a season. If he gets out of rhythm, that could lead to a lot of low line drives during the Derby instead of fly balls that clear the fences.
2025 home runs: 19 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: The Athletics slugger has been one of the top power hitters in the majors for three seasons now and is on his way to a third straight 30-homer season. Rooker has plus bat speed and raw power, but his biggest strength is an optimal average launch angle (19 degrees in 2024, 15 degrees this season) that translates to home runs in game action. That natural swing could be picture perfect for the Home Run Derby. He also wasn’t shy about saying he wanted to participate — and maybe that bodes well for his chances.
Why he might not: Rooker might not have quite the same raw power as some of the other competitors, as he has just one home run longer than 425 feet in 2025. But that’s a little nitpicky, as 11 of his home runs have still gone 400-plus feet. He competed in the college home run derby in Omaha while at Mississippi State in 2016 and finished fourth.
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 442 feet
Why he could win: Chisholm might not be the most obvious name to participate, given his career high of 24 home runs, but he has belted 17 already in 2025 in his first 61 games after missing some time with an injury. He ranks among the MLB leaders in a couple of home run-related categories, ranking in the 96th percentile in expected slugging percentage and 98th percentile in barrel rate. His raw power might not match that of the other participants, but he’s a dead-pull hitter who has increased his launch angle this season, which might translate well to the Derby, even if he won’t be the guy hitting the longest home runs.
Why he might not: Most of the guys who have won this have been big, powerful sluggers. Chisholm is listed at 5-foot-11, 184 pounds, and you have to go back to Miguel Tejada in 2004 to find the last player under 6 foot to win.
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