Andrew Susac, C. DOB: 3/22/1990. 6'1", 215 lbs. B-R, T-R.
2012 High A: .244/351/.380, 9 HR, 12.9 BB%, 23.5 K%, 426 PA
2013 AA: .256/.362/.458, 12 HR, 13.5 BB%, 21.9 K%, 310 PA
2014 AAA: .268/.379/.451, 10 HR, 13.4 BB%, 19.8 K%, 253 PA
2014 MLB: .273/.326/.466, 8 2B, 3 HR, 7.4 BB%, 29.5 K%, 95 PA.
When Andrew Susac was in 4'th grade in Carmichael, CA, he wrote a paper in class about his dream job playing for the San Francisco Giants and beating Barry Bonds' HR record. He must have been so excited to be drafted by the Giants in round 2 of the 2011 amateur draft out of Oregon St. The Giants had taken Joe Panik in round 1 and Kyle Crick in the supplemental first round. Word was the Giants did not expect Susac to be there in round 2, but he fell due to a hamate fracture suffered during the college season. Susac did not start his pro career until the 2012 season when he was aggressively assigned to High A San Jose. That first season was an adjustment to the rigors of catching and calling games at the professional level. He moved up to AA in 2013 and improved his numbers significantly despite the much tougher hitting environment in Richmond and the Eastern League. Prospect analysts like John Sickels started to take notice of his combination of power and high walk rates. Susac put up similar numbers in AAA in 2014 and got the call to SF when Hector Sanchez went down with a concussion.
To say Susac impressed at the MLB level as backup catcher to Buster Posey would be an understatement. He showed he could handle himself behind the plate, but where he really shined was at the plate. The BB and K numbers don't look so good, but he showed excellent pitch recognition and plate discipline within PA's and was not afraid to drive the ball. If you project his counting stats to 600 PA's you get 50 doubles and 19 HR's!
Susac is so similar to Buster Posey in pretty much everything from size to facial features and hairstyle to his batting stance and swing you have to look twice even on HDTV to tell which one you are looking at. I looked up some videos from the Cape Cod league before he was even drafted by the Giants. Even back then, he sure looked a whole lot like Buster at the plate. They are listed as the same dimensions of 6'1", 215 lbs. After looking at video of both players, I think Susac packs a bit more of his weight up around the shoulders whereas Buster carries more of his in the upper legs and butt. I just know that Susac looks like a tank up there!
Bruce Bochy and Brian Sabean have already said that Susac is the backup catcher going into spring training and it is up to Hector Sanchez to reclaim the job. One concern that I have is if Susac is the sole backup catcher, his opportunities for PA's are going to be limited mostly to the games he starts at catcher, since you don't want to burn your backup catcher in a PH appearance if you don't have to. This takes away as many as 100 PA opportunities a young bench player would otherwise get to progress in their development.
Beyond the concern about his development as a backup catcher, Susac certainly looks like the real deal. He's kind of a 3 true outcomes type with the high walk rates and relatively high K rates plus the power, but he also looks like he has the potential for extra base power on balls in play as evidenced by the doubles he hit. It probably will help his development to caddy for Posey for 1 season, but if he continues to impress at the plate the way he did in 2014, I would think there will be pressure to find more PA's for him one way or another.
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I would love to see him get more PA. If the Giants carry 3 catchers he could get more PH opportunities. Also, if a guy like Belt struggles or has another injury he could either catch more while Buster plays 1B or maybe he will get time at 1B. He seems like he will be a decent hitter and the more creative the Giants are with him then the more chances he has to help the club.
ReplyDeleteI like Susac a lot, but I'd rather have Brandon Belt crushing the ball at first and playing on a regular basis. With the departure of Pablo Sandoval, the Giants need Belt to step up offensively and to play about 145 games at first base , with Buster Posey filling in occasionally. Andy Susac will get his at-bats.
DeleteI agree with you if Belt can stay on the field. Only 61 games last year. He started off really hot and when he finally came back you could tell his timing was off. Hopefully Belt has a monster season in 2015.
DeleteSusac showed he belonged in the big leagues.His at bats and defense are solid.It's nice to have that talent in a back up catcher.Having that bat of the bench is nice too.Nice pick.
ReplyDelete2011 was a great draft! Panik, Crick, and then Susac! Later Black, Law, Tomblinson, and Blackburn! Even later Hall, Mc Vay, Snodgrass and Mizenko. I forgot Osich.
ReplyDeleteGiants are in love with drafting Catchers. Pitchers like and are comfortable throwing to Susac which is the greatest compliment. Being able to hit is a bonus. Susac for some reason is a quiet above average prospect. Quiet in that he is low in prospect rankings by the pros? Makes me wonder what they think Susac needs to do better?
I have Susac as my #1. Here's here and he stepped into the most demanding position on the team with aplomb. But this will be a tough year for Susac as he won't be playing full time. ABs will be sprodic. But who better to apprentice under than Posey.
ReplyDeleteBy 2018 he's either the Giants C or traded. Ideally Hector returns and Susac performs, so the Giants can trade high on either one for a starter in 2016. Then Garcia emerges longer term. All I know is you can't have enough players to wear the tools of ignorance.
IMO, Susac should be ranked this high, but I also feel he should be developed in order to trade. The reasoning is this: Posey is staying at Catcher (as we discuss at length around here), Susac hasn't had enough PA to truly know what we have (still has some luster of a top prospect), he's cost controlled and a very valuable position that is in demand. I would pull the trigger on the right trade involving Susac over trading away some of our pitching for sure.
ReplyDeleteI agree if it is for a player with multiple years of control. I would hate to see him get traded for a rental player. For example, if we flipped him and received Cole Hamels. I doubt a trade like that would happen but I would be okay with losing him for a decent player with years of control.
DeleteI'd make that trade in a New York minute.
DeleteI would rather the Giants keep Susac for now. The catching position, like pitching, is inherently more risky for injuries. So he's a back up catcher for now? Better to have two great options at catcher than none (if Buster is out for an extended period of time and Susac has already been traded away).
ReplyDeleteDr. B - A question on another topic. I just read where the Giants have named Steve Kline as the new pitching coach of the Richmond Flying Squirrels., any idea what happened to Ross Grimsley?
ReplyDeleteNo. I'll check around.
Deletewow, giants really mustve been impressed with kline in augusta to bump him up to richmond
Deletebacci
Dream scenario is to see Hector get the job by destroying ST, have Susac play everyday in Sac, and then flip Hector at the deadline before he hits arbitration.
ReplyDeleteThen Susac has a half season of everyday grind, plus another few months of watching Buster. No doubt Andrew is is good enough to backup in the bigs, but I hate to see him burn a season with 250 ab's.
Either way, the Giants are pretty well off at C for a while.
speaking of catchers, the atl signed the ball buster to a one year deal....which makes me seriously question the direction that org is headed in
ReplyDeletebacci
Atlanta is clearly in a firesale/bridging mode while the new GM gets trained and they rebuild.
DeleteDiamondbacks signed Dan Runzler to a minor league deal. Would be interesting to see him stick on an MLB roster one day.
ReplyDeleteGiants don't use a traditional backup, so Susac would see plenty of playing time, maybe even in a personal catcher role.
ReplyDeleteI don't see Hector going anywhere if he's healthy, I just think they'll experiment with him at 3rd and keep the extra backup.
Yeah, Buster will likely catch between 110 and 120 games and play 1B another 20 or so. Backup catcher starts 40-50 games, so you are right, that's about 200-250 PA's. I think they may still have an option left on Sanchez so unless he wins the backup C job outright, I expect him to be back in AAA, where he may learn a new position or two.
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