After two years at Arizona and becoming only the 10th Wildcats player to record 100 hits in a season, catcher Daniel Susac gave up his remaining college eligibility and was selected 19th overall in the 2022 MLB Draft by the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.
Susac hit .366 with 12 home runs and 66 RBIs this season allowing him to receive an invitation to the MLB Combine at Petco Park where he showcased his talents in front of MLB scouts and was able to crack into the top-10 on the draft board.
The most recent MLB.com mock draft projected Susac to go as high as No. 14 overall to the New York Mets and as low as No. 22 to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Originally committed to play for Oregon State, Susac switched ultimately his commitment to Arizona where he excelled in former head coach Jay Johnson’s final season at the helm. After Chip Hale took over, Susac decided against following some of his teammates and ultimately stayed in Tucson for one more season.
“I was telling my family the other day, I think the second best decision I ever made was coming to Arizona but I think the best one was staying here,” Susac said following the team’s regional loss to Ole Miss. “I don’t think the program could be in better hands. I think the coaching staff and the players all understand it, they get it and I think it’s in great hands for the rest.”
Taking over as the starting catcher immediately upon joining the Wildcats and having big shoes to fill from former star Austin Wells, Susac made an impact right away starting in 124 out of 125 possible career games. Susac hit .351 with 24 HR and 126 in 515 at-bats during his UA career.
“I think for me, the biggest thing I’ve just tried to give is to try to compete and win everyday,” Susac previously said. “Whatever I can do everyday on the field if I’m not hitting well, try to catch well. If I’m not catching well try to flush it and go hit. Whatever I can do on an everyday basis to try and help us win.”
The Roseville, California native has also kept up the consistent reliability that the catcher position has brought Arizona by remaining behind the plate in almost every single game at a position where it is not typical to play everyday.
“Yeah I think it’s huge,” Susac said about his durability. “I think you know at the next level you know maybe you have a day off every once in a while but while I’m healthy enough I want to play every single game. And I think I can contribute every day to the best of my ability, then why would I want to be out of the lineup?”
This season has also been a true test of pressure for Susac as all season long the top prospect has had MLB scouts watching his every move on the field. Being able to deal with the high expectations that come with being a top draft prospect has been something that the 21-year-old catcher has already grown accustomed to.
“I think that’s where I matured over the course of the year,” Susac said. “I’d say the first week or two you know it’s gonna be in the back of the mind of a lot of people. But I’d say I just flushed it. I just said as soon as I would say about a week before Pac-12 play I said you know Pac-12 play is coming up all that matters is our team and we gotta win and I felt confident in myself that if that was all I focused on the rest would take care of itself.”
Although baseball has been his main sport, Susac also has a love for football as a former quarterback at Jesuit High School for four years. According to Susac, sometimes his love of football overshadowed his love of baseball. Playing catcher on the baseball team has almost made him feel like even more of a quarterback which helps his leadership skills on the diamond.
“I love football a lot too,” he said. “I will tell you I almost dive deeper sometimes into football. I’ll watch press conferences from the Packers, I’ll watch everything. I’ll watch their games, I’ll try to break it down as if I was a quarterback, I’ll see coverages. I’ll read maybe somebody will disguise a cover-4 and then drop into a cover-2 man. And it’s crazy that’s where I really get my respect for quarterbacks is realizing the pre to post-packaged defenses they jump into and how quick they can change the stuff that I don’t really see.
“And the biggest one I’ll see is free plays for the Packers they have separate routes for if somebody jumps offsides and it's just instant click that they just know. It’s almost like a chemistry between a catcher and a shortstop for a back pick.”
Susac being selected at No. 19 by the A’s makes him the 12th first-round pick for Arizona and the 274th selection overall in program history. He is the first UA player to be selected in the top-20 of the draft since Kevin Newman was picked 19th overall in 2015.
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