When Daniel Susac was youthful, all he may take into consideration was following within the footsteps of his older brother Andrew by having a profession as knowledgeable baseball participant.
Susac’s journey began Sunday night time because the Oakland A’s chosen the Arizona catcher nineteenth general within the MLB first-year participant draft.
Like his older brother Andrew, who was drafted by the Giants in 2011 and performed 87 video games for San Francisco in 2014 and 2015, Daniel Susac attended Jesuit Excessive in Sacramento. Watching Andrew catch started his love for the place, as he began enjoying catcher when he was 6 or 7 years outdated.
“He’s been my function mannequin since I used to be little,” Daniel Susac mentioned of Andrew. “Watching his path to now and on the brink of go down it myself, it’s one thing we all the time talked about once I was little and it’s actually cool to see it begin to fall into place.”
Susac, a Roseville native, began all 64 video games as a sophomore for the Wildcats this previous season because the crew’s on a regular basis catcher and was a unanimous All-American. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 218 kilos, Susac was additionally a Pac-12 All-Convention choice and was a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy.
Susac, 21, had a .366 common and scored 50 runs with 19 doubles, two triples, 12 dwelling runs, and 61 RBI this previous season.
“I used to be excited to see the A’s consider in me,” mentioned Susac, who had spoken incessantly with Oakland in current days, together with Sunday afternoon. “Clearly being an area child, it’s thrilling, watching them rising up, so, excited to get going.”
That is the second time in three years the A’s have drafted a catcher — and a Northern California native — within the first spherical, as they took Turlock’s Tyler Soderstrom twenty sixth general in 2020.
The Oakland A’s have chosen Jesuit Excessive Faculty alumni Daniel Susac with the nineteenth general choose within the 2022 MLB Draft. He performed the final two years at @ArizonaBaseball.
Right here was the response from his draft occasion again dwelling in Sacramento: pic.twitter.com/gJXDHKqnx9
— Cameron Salerno (@cameronsalerno1) July 18, 2022
Susac, who sees himself as a catcher as knowledgeable, mentioned he and Soderstrom are mates and that they performed collectively for a number of years. The 2 exchanged textual content messages shortly after Susac was drafted.
“I’m excited to play with him once more,” Susac mentioned.
The A’s bonus pool for the 2022 draft was $8,315,800, with the nineteenth general choice having a slot worth of $3,529,400.
The nineteenth general choice was an necessary one for the A’s, who've been hit-or-miss with their first-round draft decisions over the past decade.
Some early-round picks like Matt Olson (2012) and Matt Chapman (2014) had been dwelling runs, however others like Addison Russell (2012), Daniel Robertson (2012), Billy McKinney (2014) and Kevin Merrell (2017) had been traded in years when the A’s had been in a win-now mode.
Richie Martin (2015) didn’t pan out in an A’s uniform, Austin Beck (2017) and stays mired within the A’s minor league system and Kyler Murray, taken ninth general in 2018, went to the NFL as an alternative. A.J.Puk and Daulton Jefferies, each taken in 2016, are with the A’s, though Jefferies can be out for the remainder of the season.
Logan Davison (2019), Soderstrom (2020) and Max Muncy (2021) are all exhibiting numerous ranges of promise, because the A’s, per MLB.com, had the Twenty second-ranked farm system earlier than the season started.
Susac, who was projected to go Twenty second in MLB.com’s ultimate mock draft, provides to that blend.
“I might say the most effective phrase to explain me is chief,” Susac mentioned. “That’s simply the best way I attempt to embody myself as a participant. I’m not solely going to try to get probably the most out of myself, I’m going to try to get probably the most out of all my teammates.
“I’m gonna deliver a terrific bat to the A’s whereas additionally being a terrific defensive participant as nicely. I’ve additionally taken pleasure in making an attempt to be a really well-rounded participant and I believe that begins with the particular person first.”
Together with their choice at No. 19, the A’s had two different picks Sunday, and took Henry Bolte of Palo Alto Excessive within the second spherical at No. 56 general, and Michigan outfielder Clark Elliott with their Aggressive Steadiness Spherical B choose at No. 69 general.
Bolte, listed at 6-foot-3 and 200 kilos and blessed with a mix of energy and velocity, had a .441 common in 33 video games for Paly this previous season, serving to the Vikings go 26-7 and advance to the Central Coast Part Division I ultimate.
Bolte, who introduced his dedication to Texas in January, additionally had a .577 on-base proportion to go together with 42 RBI and 57 runs scored. Recognized for his very good centerfield protection, Bolte was named Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division MVP and was a first-team all-Bay Space Information Group first-team choice.
Elliott, at 6-0 and 185 kilos, was named the Large Ten Event’s Most Excellent Participant in March. He had a .337 common in 61 video games and led the Wolverines this season with 16 dwelling runs, 69 RBI, and a .630 slugging proportion.
When the draft resumes Monday at 11 a.m. (PT) with rounds three by means of 10, the A’s first two picks can be at No. 95 and No. 124 general. Rounds 11 by means of 20 happen Tuesday.
Draft picks had been introduced at XBox Plaza at L.A. Reside in Los Angeles in what was the first-ever outside MLB draft. It’s additionally the second yr that the draft was held in the course of the MLB All-Star break, greater than a month later than the place it had been beforehand held in early June.
A’s basic supervisor David Forst understood the place MLB was coming from with wanting to maneuver the draft as much as a slower time within the sports activities calendar to make the occasion extra seen. Nonetheless, it impacts when gamers can start their skilled careers.
“Our greatest grievance from only a pure baseball growth get-guys-to-the-big-leagues standpoint is you lose loads of time if you don’t have guys on the market till primarily the top of July,” Forst mentioned on A’s Solid not too long ago. “In earlier years, there’ll be guys on the market in A ball already for 2 weeks when you've got your draft June 6-7 the place it was. In order that’s the largest grievance from a timing standpoint.”