All of the ways Mark Canha has shown his value this season

The New York Mets have had a countless number of contributors throughout their 2022 campaign so far. It’s what has kept them in first place in the National League East for almost the entire year. They’ve put together a roster that includes four players who made this year’s National League All-Star team along with two of the game's best starting pitchers. Starting pitcher Max Scherzer and outfielder Starling Marte led the charge for many people to believe that the Mets had one of the better off-seasons. 

While both Scherzer and Marte have been outstanding in their first year in Queens, there’s another player that Steve Cohen, and company, brought in this past winter to help make the team better. That player is outfielder Mark Canha. 

Mark Canha has been everything the Mets could have asked for and more. 

After spending the first seven seasons of his career in Oakland as a member of the Athletics, Mark Canha decided to join the Mets on a two-year, $26.5 million deal. For a player that is making $13.25 million this season, you can say, without question, he is exceeding expectations and giving the Mets great value.

The Amazins have been a scary team all season long, but the dog days, known as the month of August, have found ways in the past to slow down hot hitters. We saw this happen to guys like first baseman Pete Alonso and shortstop Francisco Lindor. During that time, Canha has stepped up and provided clutch hit after clutch hit, none bigger than his9th inning go ahead home run in Philadelphia on August 21st. 

For most of the season, Canha has been hitting towards the bottom of the order (usually 6th or 7th). That gives New York’s lineup great depth, which could be very valuable, especially in the postseason. His persistence at the plate and ability to work the count, fighting off numerous amounts of two strike pitches, is what could help the Mets tire out a starting pitcher, forcing him to leave a game earlier than expected. 

During the first few months of the season Canha had been hitting a bit inconsistently, which is what led the front office into acquiring outfielder Tyler Naquin from the Cincinnati Reds at the trade deadline. Most assumed that Naquin would platoon out in left field with Canha. That is indeed how things went for the first week or so until Canha decided that he was going to force manager Buck Showalter to play him each and every day due to his great play on the field. Canha in the last couple of weeks is hitting right around the .300 mark, leaving Buck no choice but to keep one of his hottest hitters in the lineup. 

The New York Mets already have so many dangerous hitters in their lineup. If Mark Canha can continue the success he’s currently having and carry it into October, it gives the Mets that much more of a chance to make the deep postseason run that everyone has been dreaming about.