Mark Is Outta Da Park

The reboot continues.

Today, it’s Mark Canha, whose talents will be taken to Milwaukee in the latest Mets trade.

Thank you, @outtadapakmark. pic.twitter.com/kqwUvdfg3b

— New York Mets (@Mets) July 31, 2023

The Mets have gotten a lot of use out of this graphic lately.

Canha regressed a little bit in 2023, falling from a .770 OPS in 542 plate appearances to .725 in 303 plate appearances. But two things: First: Who hasn’t regressed on the Mets? There have been a lot more egregious regressions on the team this sesaon. Second, his advanced statistics suggest that his regression may have been overblown. His ISO has stayed level .136 from ’22 to ’23, and his wRC+ has actually gone up from 109 to 111. His BABIP went way down from .309 to .279, which means he’s lost a little luck. Again … haven’t we all?

Canha has gone on a couple of mini-hot streaks this season, amd from April 18th through June 3rd, Canha hit .276 in 119 PA’s. But it was nothing like the streaks he went on last season when he was hitting bombs like these:

I’m only sorry that a home run like that didn’t live on in Mets lore the way it would have had the Mets finished the season off correctly.

What I will always appreciate about Mark Canha is not only the big home runs that he hit, but that he always put forth himself with a trait that is rarer and rarer these days: Authenticity. Was always honest with his answers and didn’t give “athlete-speak”. He’s a breath of fresh air in a world that doesn’t give you a lot of that these days. (Sometimes, literally.) It’s fun to root for guys like Mark because he wore on his sleeve that he was into it just like we are.

Safe travels, Mark. And go easy on that cheese in Wisconsin.