A’s keep Mark Canha on the move
Canha made his first career start at third base in Monday evening’s series opener and found himself moving all over the infield as the A’s shifted on Seattle’s left-handed batters.
Normally when the A’s shift, the third baseman moves to shortstop Marcus Semien’s spot and Semien plays up the middle or to the right of second base.
[...] because Canha isn’t experienced at third, let alone short, the A’s had him move all the way to short right field, between the first baseman and second baseman, when the shift was on.
Canha, who takes a lot of grounders at third and looked at ease playing the position, was involved in a pivotal seventh-inning sequence Monday.
With lefty-swinging Seth Smith at the plate, Canha wasn’t shifting across the diamond (but was still a good distance from third) because the Mariners had a runner, Nori Aoki, on second.
Aoki tried to steal third, and catcher Stephen Vogt’s throw skipped past Canha into left field.
Aoki scored what proved to be the deciding run, and Vogt said afterward he should not have thrown the ball.
“Obviously, I never had to execute that play before,” Canha said.
Canha wasn’t in Tuesday’s lineup because second baseman Jed Lowrie (calf) was back and Chris Coghlan returned to third base.
The No. 1 third baseman, Danny Valencia, went 0-for-3 in a rehab game for Class A Stockton on Monday and will play another rehab game Wednesday while he recovers from his strained left hamstring.
John Shea is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
The A’s have eight players on the disabled list.