Introduction
Mark David Canha (/ˈkænə/; born February 15, 1989) is an American professional baseball first baseman and outfielderwho is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics. Canha made his MLB debut in 2015.
Career
Amateur career
Canha attended Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California. In 2007, his senior year, he batted .440 with 11 home runs. After graduating from high school, he attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he played college baseball for the California Golden Bears baseball team. In 2009, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod Baseball League. In 2010, his junior season, he hit .319 with ten home runs and 69 runs batted in (RBIs) in 54 games.
Miami Marlins
After the season, the Florida Marlins selected Canha in the seventh round of the 2010 MLB draft. In 2014, Canha played for the New Orleans Zephyrs of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League (PCL).
Oakland Athletics
The Colorado Rockies chose Canha in the 2014 Rule 5 draft from the Marlins, and then traded him to the Athletics for Austin House. During spring training in 2015, Canha led the Athletics in home runs, but led all major league players in strikeouts. Due to the team's need for a power hitter following the offseason trades of Josh Donaldson and Brandon Moss, Canha made the Athletics' Opening Day roster. In his major league debut, on April 8, Canha had three hits and four RBIs. Canha remained with the Athletics throughout the 2015 season, and led all American League rookies in RBIs. He finished the season with 16 home runs and 70 RBIs, while playing multiple positions for the A's.
Canha underwent season-ending hip surgery after only 16 games with Oakland in 2016. Returning in 2017, he played six games with the A's before being optioned to the Nashville Sounds of the PCL on April 15. On November 8, 2017, Canha underwent right wrist surgery to remove a cyst.
In 2018, Canha hit a career-high 17 home runs with 52 RBIs and a .249/.328/.449 batting line. In 2019, Canha set career highs in average (.273), home runs (26), runs (80) and walks (67) in 126 games. In 2020, Canha slashed .246/.387/.408 with 5 home runs and 33 RBIs in 191 at-bats for the club.
On May 2, 2021, Canha was hit by a pitch for the 60th time in his career, most all-time in the Oakland history of the Athletics franchise. In 2021 he tied for the major league lead in hit by pitches, with 27. After the season, Canha became a free agent and the Athletics did not make an $18.4 million qualifying offer. During his time at Oakland, Canha recorded 645 appearances and recorded a .244 batting average, a .344 on-base percentage and a .431 slugging percentage. He hit 89 home runs and drove in 294 runs.
Personal life
Canha's wife, Marci, is an architect originally from San Jose. They live in San Francisco during the season and spend their offseasons in Arizona. Canha is of Portuguese heritage.