Four Oakland Athletics That Surprised the Most in 2015
By Scott Harris
Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
Mark Canha: It is rare that a Rule 5 draft pick has an impact at the Major League level but nevertheless, the A’s were ecstatic when they were able to trade Minor League pitcher Austin House to the Colorado Rockies for Mark Canha after he was selected 2nd in the Rule 5 draft prior to last season. Canha started the year strong and as of May 2nd, had an impressive triple slash of .297/.350/.459. However, he had been fighting through a respiratory illness since the end of spring training and a month into the season it began to reflect in his numbers at the plate.
After the illness subsided in June, it took a while for Canha to regain his timing and then he took off in August. From August to the end of the season, he slashed .280/.338/.474 while hitting 8 HR’s. The interesting thing about Canha is that he is a right-handed batter who hit righties better than lefties this season. Canha hit 50 percentage points higher against righties than lefties with an OPS of .821 as opposed to .587. I look for that to improve going forward due to the fact that throughout Canha’s five years in the minors, he hit lefties significantly better than he hit righties. Canha also showed that he is very capable of playing both first base and left field, making Ike Davis expendable after his disappointing 2015 season.
Next: 3. Danny Valencia