Someone may need to check Mark Canha’s bat for powdery residue. It’s burning to a crisp in September.
In 15 games this month the 34-year-old Canha is slashing .389/.468/.593 with a couple doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI. He’s walked six times and struck out on 12 occasions over 62 plate appearances.
How good is that? It’s Canha’s best month in nine seasons, the best in his entire career.
It’s even outstanding relative to other MLB players – only San Diego’s Xander Bogaerts (.458) and Miami’s Luis Arraez (.394) own a better average this month among players with 50+ trips to the plate.
Those guys are household names. Canha is a veteran who was traded to Milwaukee with no fanfare.
We’re all witnessing that change. The Brewers are 26-14 (.650) in games with their new corner outfielder. Canha has turned over a new leaf, batting .317 overall in 40 contests in a Crew uniform – he was pedestrian at the plate prior to being traded, hitting .245 across 89 games for the Mets this season.
Here’s a tight rundown of his feats since the calendar flipped to September. … Canha has at least one hit in 13 of 15 games, 2+ in seven as well as one three-hit effort (his third overall for the Brewers, by the way).
Canha started September with an eight-game hitting streak featuring 12 total knocks. As for active runs, he’s hit safely in his last four. Also, Canha has been a menace on the basepaths, swiping four bags, which matches his career best in a single month (he had four stolen bases in 11 more games (26) in April 2021).
Clearly, Canha is outplaying the expectations that followed him from New York – not to mention eclipsing the finest of his days as a member of the Oakland Athletics. We’re wondering, has he come close before?
Has Canha produced at this type of level for a whole month? – granted there’s 12 days left in September.
There’ve been five instances of Canha ledgering a .300+ average in a month, including a 16-game tear at the start of last season that saw the 2010 seventh-round draft choice swing .346. In that stretch, from April 7-30, Canha was a singles machine, tallying one extra-base hit while going 19-for-55 with six RBI.
Canha posted a slash line of .347/.434/.602 with three doubles, a pair of triples, six big flies and 17 RBI over 25 games in August 2019. It helped him to a career-best average, .273, in 126 games for the A’s.
Before then, Canha’s best hitting month occurred as a rookie when he cranked 10 doubles, a triple and three homers. At 26 years old, in August 2015, he slashed .309/.333/.532 with 21 RBI in 25 appearances.
The only season where Canha has logged multiple months batting above .300 came in 2018, when he started and ended the year on fire, hitting .308 and .303 over 15 and 18 games in April and September.
We’ll wrap this by highlighting a night Canha – or Brewers faithful – will “probably never forget.”
Batting with two gone and the bases primed in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday vs. Washington, Canha blew a first pitch down the left-field line into the second deck at Am Fam Field, breaking a 5-all tie.
It’s never too late to break out in a big way in the big leagues.
