Mets finish sweep of Philly, and a note about Mark Canha's power surge

Scherzer wins, trumpets after all?, and has Mark Canha turned a corner?

Justin Mears

Jun 02, 2023

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

The Mets completed a sweep of the Phillies, defeating their division rival 4-2 on Thursday afternoon (Box)
Mark Canha homered for the 2nd consecutive day, putting the Mets ahead for good with a two run blast in the 3rd inning
Max Scherzer delivered probably his best start of the season to date, going seven innings and allowing just one earned run and five hits
Wanting to stay away from using Adam Ottavino and David Robertson for a 3rd straight day, manager Buck Showalter leaned on Jeff Brigham, Brooks Raley, and Drew Smith to collect the final six outs
The baby Mets combined to plate an insurance run for the Mets in the 6th, as Brett Baty led off with a double and later scored on a Mark Vientos sac fly
Jeff McNeil plated the Mets first run with a two out RBI single in the 3rd
The Mets are 16-0 when their starting pitchers pitch six or more innings in a game and 6-0 when a starter throws seven or more innings in a game

Injury Updates 🏥

RHP Edwin Díaz (torn patellar tendon) hasn’t ruled out a late season comeback (FOX Sports)

Today’s Game 🗓

Match-up: Mets (30-27) vs. Blue Jays (30-27)

Where: Citi Field – Flushing, NY

Starters: RHP Justin Verlander (2-2, 4.80 ERA) vs RHP Chris Bassitt (5-4, 3.80 ERA)

When: 7:10 PM EDT

Where to Watch: SNY

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Mark Canha’s power could lengthen the Mets lineup✍🏼

The Mets up and down season is back on the upswing following an inspiring three game sweep of their division rivals from Philadelphia, and the hero of the series was none other than Mark Canha, who’d begun to become somewhat of an afterthought.

When the Mets signed the veteran outfielder two winters ago they envisioned him bringing some right-handed pop at the bottom of their line-up. With Oakland Canha had already produced three seasons with 17 or more long balls, and New York felt having a second legitimate right-handed power threat behind Pete Alonso could help balance out what was an increasingly left-handed heavy line-up.

Last season, while he didn’t produce as many home runs as the Mets thought he might, the 34-year-old was still a valuable member of the team’s offensive attack, slashing .266/.367/.403 with 37 extra-base hits and 61 RBI.

To put it lightly though, the first two months of 2023 have not been kind to him. Prior to the last two days, Canha had delivered only three homers and 10 doubles, while watching his average, OBP, and SLG% all plummet from both last season’s marks and his career norms. And in the process, has seen his playing time shrink dramatically.

Lately Buck Showalter has essentially been toggling between Canha and Tommy Pham in left field in an effort to play the hot hand, while much to the approval of fans and media pundits, giving young Mark Vientos the majority of the right-handed DH opportunities. But that’s not all. With Eduardo Escobar’s bat perking up in a diminished role, Showalter hasn’t been shy about shifting Jeff McNeil to left to give him spot starts at second base.

All that has combined to dramatically take at-bats away from Canha, but perhaps something clicked against the Phillies that would change that thought process.

With the Mets trailing 1-0 against Aaron Nola on Wednesday night Canha drilled a high fastball well over the left field fence for a two run bomb in a game New York would never trail again. In his next at-bat he put an exclamation point on his breakout day, lacing a two run single to the opposite field. He ended up driving in all four runs the Mets scored in a 4-1 victory.

Then came yesterday.

With the Mets again down by one, Canha flipped the game with a two run homer again, this time against former teammate Taijuan Walker, and the Amazins would never look back as they rolled to an important series sweep.

What all this means moving forward remains to be seen. Was it just a two day flash in the pan, or can this week become a springboard for Canha’s season? It’s certainly no secret that even with the emergence of Francisco Alvarez the Mets could use another dangerous right-handed bat, and it would lengthen the line-up considerably if Canha could become just that.

He’ll certainly be right back in left field tonight against another former teammate, Chris Bassitt, whom he is very familiar with after playing with the righty in both Oakland and New York.

Let’s hope he can keep the good times rolling.

Around the League 🚩

Righty Kevin Gausman shut out the Brewers over 6.2 innings to help Toronto beat Milwaukee 3-1
Gary Sanchez homered for the 2nd consecutive day and drove in three runs in the Padres 10-1 drubbing of the Marlins
Arizona outfielder Corbin Carroll delivered a two out, two run walk-off double in the bottom of the 9th to earn the Diamondbacks a 5-4 win over Colorado
Kike Hernandez and Connor Wong both homered for the Red Sox in an 8-2 win over the Reds at Fenway Park
Willi Castro lofted a walk-off sac fly to finish a 7-6 Twins win over the Guardians