Mark Canha Back With Brewers On Minor-League Deal

After closing out the 2023 season with the Milwaukee Brewers, Mark Canha was hoping he’d return to the team the next season.

Instead, the Brewers traded the veteran slugger to Detroit following the season but now, a year later, Canha is back with the Brewers after signing a minor-league deal with an invitation to big-league spring training and he couldn’t be happier.

“It feels great,” Canha said. “I loved my last stint here. It was an awesome time for me. I decided to come back for some more good times.”

He experienced perhaps the greatest time of his career during his last stint in Milwaukee.

Dealt by the Mets at the trade deadline that season, Canha joined a Brewers team that was surging to the NL Central title. Canaha was a big reason why, slashing .287/.373/.427 with five home runs, 33 RBIs and an .800 OPS in 50 games.

He etched his name into franchise history that September, blasting a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning of a 9-5 victory over the Nationals as Milwaukee inched closer to locking down a postseason berth.

“It was just awesome,” said Canha, who marked the moment with an epic bat flip. “I go back, I watch that clip still. Just for fun, and remember how exciting that was. It was an awesome moment. All I remember when I watch it back is just how nice it was to just feel like I was home, and that people were really pulling for us.

“I just love the Milwaukee fan base and how into it they were at that time. It was just unbelievable. And you see my teammates’ reaction in the dugout and everything, it’s those kind of things you look back at, you’re like, ‘Man, that was pretty special.’”

Canha was hoping to return in ’24 but with an $11.5 million team option and an influx of young, inexpensive outfielders – including top prospect Jackson Chourio – the Brewers opted instead to deal Canha to the Tigers for minor-league pitcher Blake Holub.

After splitting last season between the Tigers and Giants, batting .242 with seven homers and 42 RBIs, Canha found himself looking for a job a Spring Training got underway.

When the Brewers came calling, Canha found a perfect fit and doesn’t expect to need much time before he’s ready to go.

“I’m going to get right into it,” Canha said. “I’m in good shape; I worked hard. I’m ready to go. You never know what happens during the course of the season, so I’m probably going to stay ready in the outfield and do everything that I’ve always done.

“It’s always been good enough in the past, so I’ll just do that.”

Should he make the club, he’ll likely backup veteran Rhys Hoskins at first base while also providing some insurance in the outfield, where the team’s depth was dinged after Blake Perkins suffered a fractured shin.

Canha will also get time at designated hitter while giving manager Pat Murphy a versitile right-handed pinch-hitting option off the bench.

“I was happy when his name came up,” Murphy said. “I was like, ‘Let’s do it.’ He’s a veteran who understands offensive baseball, he understands the game, and to have another veteran in that clubhouse for this group is really key.

“So, hopefully he can regain his form and contribute.”

Mixed Bag for Misorowski

Top pitching prospect Jacob Misorowski made his Cactus League debut Tuesday, working a two-run first inning that highlighted both his potential and the work he needs to do to make it to the big leagues.

The tall, lanky right-hander’s fastball hit 99 MPH on multiple occasions but at times failed to hit the mark. The result: a strikeout, a base hit and three walks, leading to a pair of Guardians runs.

“I thought it was pretty good,” Misiorowski said of his outing. “Could have located a little better, but other than that pretty good. Threw everything pretty well in my eyes.

“(If I) locate better, totally different outcome.”

The command issues are part of the reason that Misorowski didn’t recieve a call-up last season, despite putting up impressive numbers at Triple-A Nashville (3-4, 3.50 ERA). Milwaukee moved him into a relief role late last season, in part to manage his workload but also to prepare him for a possible call-up but ultimately, the organization opted to leave him in the minors down the stretch.

“We talked about it a number of different times,” Murphy said. “He’s always a topic of conversation because he’s a great young prospect. It’s all about what’s best for him … the decision was made that he wasn’t quite ready. Now, we have a belief that he can be a starting pitcher.”

Pick A Number, Any Number

The return of Canha means yet another change in jersey numbers for Murphy, who wore No. 21 last season but gave it up for Canha and will instead wear No. 49 — the same number he wore in 2017, his first season as Craig Counsell’s bench coach.

Murphy switched to No. 59 the next season and wore it until mid-2021, when the Brewers brought right-handed reliever John Axford back, then switched to No. 21 last season after replacing Counsell as the Brewers’ manager.

Injury Report

• RHP J.B. Bukauskas will have surgery on his injured right lat and miss all of the 2025 season as a result.
• 1B Tyler Black is recovering after tweaking his back taking swings last week and is hoping to see his first game action sometime next week.

Up Next

The Brewers have two games on the docket Wednesday. Half the team will stay in Maryvale to host right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Dodgers while the other half will travel across the valley to face old friend Corbin Burnes and the Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields.