Andrew Susac was the Giants second round draft pick in 2011 out of Oregon State. He's used to wearing orange and black! The Giants gave him an aggressive assignment for his first professional experience in 202 playing for high A San Jose. One thing to remember about college catchers is they do not generally call pitches as it is standard practice for the coaches to call pitches from the dugout. That makes for a significant adjustment when they hit pro ball. Susac's first pro season was spent making this and other defensive adjustments. On the offensive side of the ball, he has a good season but maybe not quite what Giants prospect watchers were hoping to see:
.244/.351/.380, 9 HR, 55 BB, 100 K in 361 AB. The 12.9% walk rate is excellent while the 23.5% K rate is manageable, especially coming from a guy who walks that much. Obviously you would like to see more power.
AA and the Eastern League is usually kryptonite for Giants hitting prospects, but Susac actually improved his numbers there in 2013: .256/.362/.458, 12 HR, 42 BB, 68 K in 262 AB. That is good for a 13.5% walk rate and a 21.9% K rate. He started out much stronger than his final numbers. His numbers declined as the season progressed and he ultimately had to shut it down early due to injuries.
The AFL presented a test. Was the decline in numbers over the course of the season due to normal regression or due to fatigue and injuries? While the AFL cannot fully answer that question due to sample size, it can be a gauge. Susac came out and crushed it! .360/.507/.480, 2 HR, 16 BB, 11 K in 50 AB.
Depending on where the Giants think Susac is with his defense, I would expect him to be the starting catcher for AAA Fresno in 2014. At this point, the bat looks promising, even exciting. The big question will be whether he can survive the physical demands of playing the catcher position.
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Susac excites me, and if he can stay healthy, I'm looking for a big season from him in Fresno. My question at this point, is will he ultimately be trade bait, or will they try him at a different position? I honestly feel like he profiles as a starter, so I don't think the Giants would bring him up to back-up Posey, especially not if Hector can regain his 2012 form.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they would give him a full season in AAA, and maybe a good amount of AB's in September in the MLB, and then use that to decide if they would want to resign Pablo. If he can handle catching, they may consider moving Posey to 3B in 2015, and having Susac be the starting catcher.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like the most logical scenario. Get him prepped to play regularly in 2015, thus giving us options for handling the potential of A) extending Sandoval or B) cutting ties with him and moving Posey to third. If Sandoval remains a Giant, which I doubt (though, they better offer a QO), that's when things get tricky. If Susac looks that good, my guess is they trade Hector and keep Susac as a backup, with Posey still getting more and more reps at 1B.
DeleteLucky
I'd like to see some sort of dual platoon with Buster and another catcher who can play the same alternative position such as 1B or 3B. Then they each play about half of their games at each position. Not easy to accomplish, I know.
Delete...and the Giants agree to a 1 year deal with Vogey!
ReplyDeleteSusac is getting major noise now. Multiple sources are talking about him possibly being a full time major league player. I think he's been way too under the radar, and his play in the Big Bad Eastern was stellar and total prove-out.
ReplyDeleteOne thing to note - most expected him to repeat SJ he was so bad. The Greybeards said no, you go to the Eastern.
And one possible scenario - you put Susac in LF when Belt is at 1B and Posey is at C. You move Susac to the plate, Posey to 1B and Belt to LF. Susac has the arm for LF definitely, and should have enough speed (not bad for a catcher at all) to handle the OF.
Talk about totally devaluing defense by putting a catcher in LF!! I love it, if he can catch a fly ball and cover a little bit of ground I have no problem with it as long as he can hit. Dr. B where is the outrage? This has to be blasphemy to you right?
DeleteLow BA, high OBP, pop. That's the profile. Susac is a pretty good athlete, especially when you bring the tools of ignorance into the discussion. Just something to keep in mind. Also: he's one of the few to gun Billy Hamilton. Who totally bombed the PR Winter League btw, with a 286 OBP, that dog don't hunt much. Hamilton with Dee Gordon comps? I could see it, big time.
DeletePato,
DeleteYou haven't seen me jumping on the Susac to LF bandwagon, have you? I would have to think the Giants would think about moving Belt to LF, something they have openly said was a possibility, or move Buster to 3B, something else Bochy has publicly mused about, before putting Susac in LF. Stay tuned as the position roulette wheel keeps spinning.
I see the Vogey signing as a signal that Sabes will now turn his attention to acquiring a LF, most likely from the trade market, but we'll see about that too.
I'm not as worried about LF as I am about Vogelsong.
DeleteAnon,
DeleteI agree!
If he can beat Kershaw like he did before, I would put him #1; then, I think we can go toe to toe with the Dodgers.
DeleteDoes this mean we are spending our Tanaka-san money (the money originally budgeted for a fringe starting LF having been spent on Vogey) on a LF?
Please, let's close out the year on a happy note.
well doc, we were both wrong about sabean and vogey
ReplyDeleteHOOHA
bacci
happy black friday
HOOHA? I hope that's the grunting sound the marines make that you are trying to put into word form and not something else there, Bacci. LOL!
Delete