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Why Detroit Tigers plan to have Mark Canha make rare starts at first base
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- Why Detroit Tigers plan to have Mark Canha make rare starts at first base
MINNEAPOLIS — For the first time, Mark Canha started at first base for the Detroit Tigers .
He isn't a first baseman, but has experience there throughout his career. The 35-year-old, primarily a corner outfielder and designated hitter, already spent two innings at first base — one inning April 9 and one inning April 15 — this season, both times as a defensive switch after starting in the outfield.
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Canha started his first game at first base in Sunday's series finale against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Manager A.J. Hinch plans to start Canha at first base approximately once every two weeks.
"He's done it," Hinch said. "He doesn't do it often, but he puts in a lot of work to play the position. He'll only be a fill-in from time to time, but it's good to get Tork a day to just DH and keep Mark fresh at first base. It's a little bit different on the body for him, as well. It's not a DH day, but it's certainly less running than in the outfield. It's something we were looking forward to at some point."
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Tigers outfielder Mark Canha catches a fly ball for an out during the seventh inning of the Tigers' 5-0 win in 10 innings on Monday, April 1, 2024, in New York.
Don't expect Canha to become the new regular first baseman.
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That job still belongs to Spencer Torkelson .
Torkelson, who made a costly fielding error in Saturday's 4-3 loss , served as the designated hitter in Sunday's series finale. As for the outfield in Sunday's game, the Tigers put Riley Greene in left field, Kerry Carpenter in right field and Parker Meadows in center field.
"We need Mark to play," Hinch said, "and I wanted to keep the outfield intact, too. It's hard to get the outfield configuration that we want. Going into the turf in Tampa (at Tropicana Field), I think everybody's going to DH that's out there, except for Parker. I'm looking at the next four days."
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Canha, a 10-year MLB veteran, entered Sunday's game with 139 games — but just 96 starts and 69 complete games — at first base, covering 871⅔ innings. He is worth minus-5 defensive runs saved at first base throughout his career.
His best position is right field.
Colt Keith on the bench
Detroit Tigers second base Colt Keith (33) is being intentionally walked against Oakland Athletics during the eighth inning of the home opening day at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, April 5, 2024.
Second baseman Colt Keith is hitting .183 with six walks and 14 strikeouts across 77 plate appearances in 20 games. He has 13 hits, but just one of those hits — an April 4 double — is an extra-base hit. The 22-year-old has two hits in his last 25 at-bats, spanning seven games.
He didn't start in Sunday against the Twins.
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Hinch started Buddy Kennedy at second base. The Tigers called up Kennedy from Triple-A Toledo before Saturday's game to take the place of injured third baseman Gio Urshela , who is expected to miss a couple of weeks with a right hamstring strain .
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"He's scuffling," Hinch said of Keith. "I want to get Buddy up and running to feel like he's on this team. Combine that with trying to give Colt a day to decompress. It's tough in the big leagues, especially when you're going through it. He's more than equipped to come out of it. Those two things kind of paired together."
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Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Mark Canha makes rare start at 1st base. Here's why.
