Daniel Susac

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Oakland Athletics #11 prospect in 2024
  BA Grade: 45/High
  
  Track Record: Susac was the Pacific-12 Conference freshman of the year at Arizona in 2021 and ranked as the no. 11 prospect in the draft a year later when the A’s selected him no. 19 overall and signed him to a bonus just north of $3.53 million. He has continued to hit for a high average since turning pro, albeit with just nine career homers. Susac posted a .301/.365/.428 line across 112 games between High-A Lansing and Double-A Midland in 2023.
  
  Scouting Report: The 6-foot-4 Susac is an offensive-oriented catcher with a strong frame and long levers. He keeps his swing in the zone for quite some time and showed feel for contact in 2023. A lot of Susac’s hits were either up the middle or to the opposite field, though, and there’s some trepidation regarding his approach and underlying power metrics. His power output hasn’t quite matched his raw potential given his strength. The A’s worked with Susac in the second half of the season to both eliminate a hole in his swing on the inside of the plate and to get in better position to pull the ball. Susac also needs to tighten his plate discipline, especially against offspeed pitches, after chasing more than a third of the time in 2023. Susac has the defensive tools to stick behind the plate with proper maintenance. He has a strong throwing arm defensively, but his sheer size can stress his agility and footwork when getting out of his crouch behind the plate. His receiving must continue to improve as well.
  
  The Future: Susac has the ceiling of a second-division regular if he can tighten his approach and grow into more power.
  
  Scouting Grades Hit: 55 | Power: 50 | Run: 40 | Field: 45 | Arm: 55
• 
  Ranked Oakland Athletics #7 prospect in 2023
  BA Grade/Risk: 50/High
  
  Track Record: Susac is the younger brother of Andrew Susac, who has spent parts of six seasons in the big leagues. Daniel, like fellow California native Tyler Soderstrom, was a prominent amateur prospect, landing at No. 118 on Baseball America's draft ranking in 2020. Susac instead opted to attend Arizona, where he hit .352 with 24 homers over 125 games. He played for Chip Hale, a former Athletics bench coach, in 2022 and was the top player remaining on Oakland's draft board this summer when they selected him No. 19 overall and signed him for $3,531,200. He spent the majority of his first professional season with Low-A Stockton.
  
  Scouting Report: Teams were split on Susac in the predraft process, but those highest projected he will have a chance for above-average hitting ability and power. He is physically strong with plus raw power. That translates to plenty of hard contact when he connects, and Susac shows solid feel for contact despite his long levers. He'll need to add a bit more polish to his offensive approach to unlock his contact ability more consistently. Susac showed a surprising amount of chase in a small sample with Stockton. The A's also believe Susac could stand to improve his balance and stride, as he can get caught out over his front foot at times. His calling card defensively is his above-average throwing arm. Susac is capable of throwing runners out from his knees with ease. He also has soft hands and solid receiving skills. Like other tall catchers--he is 6-foot-4--he will need to continue to monitor his footwork and mobility behind the plate, and he sometimes struggles to get out of his crouch.
  
  The Future: Susac has the ceiling of an everyday big league catcher with more refinement to his approach and defense.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hitting: 50. Power: 55. Speed: 40. Fielding: 45. Arm: 55

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #11 prospect in 2022 draft
  School: Arizona Committed/Drafted: Never Drafted
  Age At Draft: 21.2
  BA Grade: 55/High
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 55 | Run: 40 | Field: 50 | Arm: 60
  Susac ranked as the No. 118 player in the 2020 class out of high school, where he stood out as a power-oriented backstop with arm strength and big league bloodlines—his brother, Andrew, caught for five years in the big leagues. After going undrafted, the 6-foot-4, 218-pound catcher had a freshman All-American campaign in 2021 (.335/.392/.591, with 12 home runs and 24 doubles) and was named the 2021 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year for his efforts. In his draft-eligible 2022 season, Susac continued to perform with the bat and followed up with a .367/.432/.598 slash line with 12 home runs and 19 doubles. Susac hits the ball hard and puts the ball in the air, with plus raw power, though most of his homers came to the pull side this spring. A long-levered hitter, there is some swing and miss in his game (evidenced by 18% and 15% strikeout rates the last two seasons) and Susac has been prone to chasing out of the zone a bit more often than scouts would like, which leads to average, or above-average hit tool grades rather than the 60-grade hit tool his .350 career average might suggest. He has hammered fastballs and done well against 93-plus mph velocity but will swing and miss more frequently against breaking and offspeed offerings. Even with some swing and miss, Susac’s top-end exit velocities stand out and should allow him to provide plenty of impact for the catcher position. Defensively, Susac has a chance to be an average defender behind the plate, which is a credit to him given his tall frame. He is a solid athlete (he was a standout high school quarterback) with plus arm strength and a 24% caught stealing rate this spring. Susac is one of the more divisive players at the top of the 2022 draft class, with some teams viewing him as an easy top-10 talent and others viewing him as more of a back-of-the-first sort of prospect. Still, the industry tends to push college catchers up the board and Susac is a proven hitter with power who should stick behind the plate.
• Ranked #118 prospect in 2020 draft
  A 6-foot-3, 205-pound backstop who’s also a high school quarterback and has major league bloodlines (his brother Andrew was a big league catcher for five years), Susac offers plenty of intrigue for scouts. He has a power-oriented game on both sides of the ball, with the current strength and frame that allow scouts to project future plus power on top of plus arm strength that he has presently. Defensively, Susac has a chance to be an average catcher, though his arm action is too long at the moment, which prevents his arm from playing up to the exceptional strength it has. He’ll need to get more efficient and quick with his throws, but if he does he could have a real weapon behind the plate. Offensively, Susac does a nice job leveraging his strength in batting practice and showing big power potential, but scouts haven’t seen much of that power translate to games just yet thanks to a passive approach that can put him in less than optimal counts to hit in. He’ll need to adjust that approach to find success at the next level. Susac was originally committed to Oregon State but is now committed to Arizona. He's expected to be a tough sign. Some teams like him as high as the supplemental first round, while others prefer him in the third or fourth. He’s a bit polarizing for clubs, but Susac a chance for solid-average defense behind the plate and above-average power, which is an all-star caliber player even if his bat winds up being below average.

• February, 2023 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 50/High
  
  Track Record: Susac is the younger brother of Andrew Susac, who has spent parts of six seasons in the big leagues. Daniel, like fellow California native Tyler Soderstrom, was a prominent amateur prospect, landing at No. 118 on Baseball America's draft ranking in 2020. Susac instead opted to attend Arizona, where he hit .352 with 24 homers over 125 games. He played for Chip Hale, a former Athletics bench coach, in 2022 and was the top player remaining on Oakland's draft board this summer when they selected him No. 19 overall and signed him for $3,531,200. He spent the majority of his first professional season with Low-A Stockton.
  
  Scouting Report: Teams were split on Susac in the predraft process, but those highest projected he will have a chance for above-average hitting ability and power. He is physically strong with plus raw power. That translates to plenty of hard contact when he connects, and Susac shows solid feel for contact despite his long levers. He'll need to add a bit more polish to his offensive approach to unlock his contact ability more consistently. Susac showed a surprising amount of chase in a small sample with Stockton. The A's also believe Susac could stand to improve his balance and stride, as he can get caught out over his front foot at times. His calling card defensively is his above-average throwing arm. Susac is capable of throwing runners out from his knees with ease. He also has soft hands and solid receiving skills. Like other tall catchers--he is 6-foot-4--he will need to continue to monitor his footwork and mobility behind the plate, and he sometimes struggles to get out of his crouch.
  
  The Future: Susac has the ceiling of an everyday big league catcher with more refinement to his approach and defense.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hitting: 50. Power: 55. Speed: 40. Fielding: 45. Arm: 55
• December, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 50/High
  
  Track Record: Susac is the younger brother of Andrew Susac, who has spent parts of six seasons in the big leagues. Daniel, like fellow California native Tyler Soderstrom, was a prominent amateur prospect, landing at No. 118 on Baseball America's draft ranking in 2020. Susac instead opted to attend Arizona, where he hit .352 with 24 homers over 125 games. He played for Chip Hale, a former Athletics bench coach, in 2022 and was the top player remaining on Oakland's draft board this summer when they selected him No. 19 overall and signed him for $3,531,200. He spent the majority of his first professional season with Low-A Stockton.
  
  Scouting Report: Teams were split on Susac in the predraft process, but those highest projected he will have a chance for above-average hitting ability and power. He is physically strong with plus raw power. That translates to plenty of hard contact when he connects, and Susac shows solid feel for contact despite his long levers. He'll need to add a bit more polish to his offensive approach to unlock his contact ability more consistently. Susac showed a surprising amount of chase in a small sample with Stockton. The A's also believe Susac could stand to improve his balance and stride, as he can get caught out over his front foot at times. His calling card defensively is his above-average throwing arm. Susac is capable of throwing runners out from his knees with ease. He also has soft hands and solid receiving skills. Like other tall catchers--he is 6-foot-4--he will need to continue to monitor his footwork and mobility behind the plate, and he sometimes struggles to get out of his crouch.
  
  The Future: Susac has the ceiling of an everyday big league catcher with more refinement to his approach and defense.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hitting: 50. Power: 55. Speed: 40. Fielding: 45. Arm: 55
• April, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade: 55/High
  
  August Update: Susac ranked as the No. 118 player in the 2020 class out of high school, where he stood out as a power-oriented backstop with arm strength and big league bloodlines—his brother, Andrew, caught for five years in the big leagues. After going undrafted, the 6-foot-4, 218-pound catcher had a freshman All-American campaign in 2021 (.335/.392/.591, with 12 home runs and 24 doubles) and was named the 2021 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year for his efforts. In his draft-eligible 2022 season, Susac continued to perform with the bat and followed up with a .367/.432/.598 slash line with 12 home runs and 19 doubles. Susac hits the ball hard and puts the ball in the air, with plus raw power, though most of his homers came to the pull side this spring. A long-levered hitter, there is some swing and miss in his game (evidenced by 18% and 15% strikeout rates the last two seasons) and Susac has been prone to chasing out of the zone a bit more often than scouts would like, which leads to average, or above-average hit tool grades rather than the 60-grade hit tool his .350 career average might suggest. He has hammered fastballs and done well against 93-plus mph velocity but will swing and miss more frequently against breaking and offspeed offerings. Even with some swing and miss, Susac&#39s top-end exit velocities stand out and should allow him to provide plenty of impact for the catcher position. Defensively, Susac has a chance to be an average defender behind the plate, which is a credit to him given his tall frame. He is a solid athlete (he was a standout high school quarterback) with plus arm strength and a 24% caught stealing rate this spring.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 55. Power: 55. Run: 40. Field: 50. Arm: 60.