Detroit Tigers veteran Mark Canha reports to 'first day of school' as new guy in clubhouse

LAKELAND, Fla. — Mark Canha looked overwhelmed.

Canha, who celebrated his 35th birthday last week, walked into the Detroit Tigers' clubhouse Monday morning for his first day of spring training, with his fourth team in his 10th MLB season.

Bench coach and outfielder instructor George Lombard gave the newcomer a rundown of the complex, as well as where he needed to be throughout the first full-squad workout, by pointing at the map attached by magnets to a whiteboard. Canha then shook the hands of a half-dozen reporters and chatted for about 10 minutes, then met the members of the public relations department, plus other staffers from a variety of departments.

"It's a lot of name learning," Canha said, "and trying to get acclimated with the building and the situation and everything. It's all new. First day of school. I'm happy to be here."

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Finally, Canha sat in the chair in front of his locker — right next to the whiteboard with the map of the complex — and met some of his new teammates.

The Tigers acquired Canha, an outfielder, in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers in their first move of the offseason, way back in early November. President of baseball operations Scott Harris traded for him and exercised his $11.5 million club option because of his on-base percentage, calculated approach against pitchers and veteran status. The Tigers hope the younger hitters, such as Spencer Torkelson and Colt Keith, will emulate the way Canha prepares for his trips to the plate.

Canha embraces the leadership role.

"I relish the role," said Canha, who commands an elite .364 on-base percentage across his past six seasons. "I'm going to be myself and try to lead by example. It's whatever the guys need. I'll diagnose that as I get settled in."

By season's end, Canha could be viewed as the most important Tiger in 2024. He might be exactly what the Tigers need to take the next step because of his steady on-base presence and veteran influence on the younger hitters.

Manager A.J. Hinch doesn't want to put too much pressure on Canha, and he doesn't want to ask too much of him at the beginning of spring training, but the veteran skipper is aware of Canha's presence at his previous stops.

Hinch also knows the kind of impact Canha can bring to the Tigers, both on and off the field. Younger players, naturally, will ask him questions throughout spring training and the regular season.

"We really want Mark to be the player he can be," Hinch said. "The players around him need to be a sponge about it. I think that influence can be good. It's not all on him, though. He's not showing up trying to teach somebody something. That's us as the coaches. We want Mark to be a player. I think his steadiness is what I'm very optimistic about for the likes of young hitters."

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Canha anticipates he will need one or two weeks to get comfortable with the Tigers. There are nearly 60 players in spring training, of which 26 will be on the Opening Day roster, not counting the boatload of coaches and trainers in TigerTown.

"It'll take me a minute," Canha said. "But we'll get there. We got time."

He already knows a few players in camp, including Torkelson.

The veteran and the youngster spent time together in the offseason. They took batting practice in Arizona with hitting coaches Michael Brdar and Keith Beauregard. Canha was the only addition to the offense in the offseason from outside the organization.

"I think that's a piece we definitely needed," said Torkelson, a 24-year-old looking to build on a 31-homer sophomore season. "I think it's a really, really awesome thing that's going to help us all out. I've been picking his brain. He's been around the league. He's seen a lot of things. He's struggled, and he's had really good years. To hear what he has to say is really helpful."

Canha, a right-handed hitter, took batting practice with left-handed hitters Riley Greene, Parker Meadows and Kerry Carpenter on the backfields in Monday's workout.

There was healthy conversation among the four players.

"I think his impact will grow over time," Hinch said. "He's a steady contributor in so many aspects of our team. I just want him to learn everybody's name first."

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Aside from learning names, Canha needs to prepare for Opening Day on March 28 against the Chicago White Sox. He might be the Tigers' leadoff hitter. A lot of position players reported early to spring training, but Canha waited until Sunday — his official report date — because he wanted to celebrate his birthday with his wife and children in Arizona.

Now that he's arrived, it's almost time to get as many in-game plate appearances as possible. He stepped to the plate 57 times with the New York Mets in last year's spring training. With the Tigers, he expects a similar workload once spring games begin Feb. 24.

Fellow veteran Javier Báez, for example, logged just 37 plate appearances in last year's spring training.

"I like to play a little more than most guys that are veteran players," Canha said. "I like to make sure I get enough at-bats as opposed to not doing enough because I've done that before, where I felt like I wasn't ready before the season started."

Hinch and Canha already talked about the plan for spring training.

"It's hard to govern players," Hinch said. "Javy has already told me that he wants to play in the first game. Everybody is really eager. Mark, I think, likes to get his timing down. He likes regimen, he likes routines. He would rather be overcooked than undercooked. We'll pay attention to that, and he'll get plenty of at-bats."

Canha offered important insight into the way he views spring training games as an established veteran. It's a good reminder for the younger hitters who are guaranteed to make the Opening Day roster, such as Torkelson, Greene, Carpenter, Meadows and Keith.

It's all about the process.

"I don't really care about how I perform," Canha said. "I care more about how I'm going about the process and focusing on what I need to focus on to be ready for Opening Day. I'm not worried about getting hits on March 1."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Mark Canha reports to 'first day of school' as new guy