‘Scuffling’ Canha gets call
MINNEAPOLIS — With Ramón Laureano’s emergence, A’s manager Bob Melvin has two right-handed hitting options for center field. What tips the balance from day to day?
Melvin said Friday at Target Field that defense is a strong consideration, as is which player is swinging the bat better. That points, at least in the short term, to Laureano, a sensational defender who is batting .295 since he was called up Aug. 3 — .375 with men in scoring position. Laureano, who homered after entering Friday’s game as a defensive replacement, has started 11 of the past 18 games in center.
“We debate as a staff, certainly we talk to the front office, too,” Melvin said. “We try to get the best lineup we can on a particular day and go from there. It’s not just numbers sometimes, there’s more that goes into it.” Mark Canha, who’d been getting the bulk of time in center before Laureano’s arrival, was there on Friday and, with a left-hander on the mound for Minnesota on Saturday, both men are likely to be in the lineup.
“I don’t want Mark sitting around too long,” Melvin said. “He’s been instrumental for us at times.”
After a double Friday to end an 0-for-14 streak, Canha is batting.133 with no homers or RBIs in 50 plate appearances in August, and Melvin said it appears as if he might be trying too hard. “For him, one good game might get him on track,” Melvin said.
Canha, who hit .291 with four homers and 12 RBIs in July, feels he’s still having some good at-bats, saying, “A lot of it has just been some bad luck... I’m hitting the ball hard. But it’s not all just bad luck, I’ve had some bad at-bats, I’m scuffling a little. So I’m constantly trying to get better.”
Slide talk: Matt Olson said his slide on a play at the plate in the fifth inning Thursday was not ideal. “If I’m going to do a slide where I’m trying to get my hand in, I need to slide maybe a step later,” he said. “Or go straight in with the foot. I knew it was going to be close.”
Like most larger players, Olson, at 6-foot-5, 241 pounds, does not slide headfirst, and Melvin doesn’t like his players to slide headfirst into the plate anyway; the risk of injury is too great.
“I’ve never been great at adapting mid-slide,” Olson said. “Once I get up to speed, I’m just lumbering.”
Olson’s height was the difference in the call, Melvin said.
Mitch Garver snagged the throw from Eddie Rosario and tagged Olson on the helmet as he came in. “That’s what got him, if he gets him anywhere but the helmet, he’s safe,” Melvin said.