Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
There are a handful of rookies on the Oakland Athletics this season, and there have been some issues with their lack of experience when it comes to playing in MLB. It is clearly a problem for error-prone Marcus Semien and used to be a problem for outfielder Billy Burns. Burns was given the opportunity to be an everyday starting outfielder and has grown immensely from this experience in a short amount of time. However, there is still one rookie who needs more playing in order for him to grow as a player — Mark Canha.
Canha was traded to the Athletics from the Colorado Rockies and is a Rule 5 pick from the Miami Marlins, meaning he has to spend the entire season on Oakland’s 25-man roster or else he goes back to Miami. Canha has shown some moments of greatness throughout the first two and half months of the season, but he could use some more playing time in order to hone his skills.
But with first baseman Ike Davis’ return imminent and outfielder Sam Fuld batting more consistently, Canha’s playing time could be limited significantly. Offensively, Canha has the skills to be an everyday major league starting position player. He is batting .450 for June so far and has a total of eight homers and 25 RBIs. Yet, he still needs to develop his defense.
For the majority of his minor league career, Canha almost exclusively played at first base. It was not until 2014 that he started fielding in the outfield regularly. Due to his inexperience in this position, he tends to make mistakes when playing in left field for the Athletics. If the A’s really want Canha to be a successful yet versatile player, it would be more beneficial for his growth to be in the lineup every day.
If the Athletics are going to trade away some of their more veteran players before the trade deadline such as Ben Zobrist or Stephen Vogt, Oakland needs to make sure that the rookies are ready to step up.
Samantha Riley is an Oakland Athletics writer for www.RantSports.com. You can follow her on twitter @Riless22.
