In another life, Daniel Susac was a quarterback. In many ways, he still is.
Arizona’s star catcher played football as well as baseball at Jesuit High School in Carmichael, California. As a senior, he passed for 1,685 yards with 23 touchdowns and four interceptions. He considered playing both sports at Oregon State or Cincinnati.
Susac ended up picking baseball, following the path of his older brothers. But the lessons he learned as a quarterback — the way that position compels you to analyze the game and lift up your teammates — stuck with him. They’ve helped make him a better baseball player.
“It translates a lot more for him than it did for me,” said UA coach Chip Hale, who also played quarterback in high school before becoming a third baseman for the Wildcats.
“As a catcher, you are the leader out there. That’s why you see so many catchers end up going into managing and being head coaches across the country. They see the whole game, sort of like a quarterback does from under center.
“It just prepares you well. You’re the leader of the team. Whether you like it or not, everybody looks to the quarterback.”
Susac’s role for Arizona, which is scheduled to face Ole Miss on Saturday in the NCAA Tournament’s Coral Gables Regional, is unquestioned. The sophomore is the Wildcats’ best player. Collegiate Baseball on Thursday named him a second-team All-American. He will be a first-round pick in the MLB draft this summer.
How Susac goes about being the Cats’ top dog is what distinguishes him and endears him to his teammates.
“He obviously had a lot of hype around his name. He came, and he’s really one of the most humble guys I’ve ever played with,” veteran right-hander Quinn Flanagan said. “You can just tell the way he carries himself, his presence out there. He’s obviously a natural leader. He does stuff the right way, and guys definitely gravitate towards that.”
“None of us ever feel like Dan’s too big for us,” outfielder Tanner O’Tremba said. “We always feel like he’s just one of the guys.”
The best quarterbacks are able to connect with everyone in the locker room, from receivers to offensive linemen. Catchers have to form relationships with every pitcher on a staff, from freshman right-handers to senior lefties.
“We’ve gotten into some deep conversations about what I’m trying to do as a pitcher and how we can attack each team,” said senior left-hander Garrett Irvin, who’s slated to start vs. Ole Miss. “When I’d pitch on Saturdays, he would tell me what he saw in the hitters, what they were looking for.
“He’s helped me become a better pitcher. And I think having those conversations, they make both of us better.”
Sick homer
Susac approaches his job with a quarterback’s mentality. It’s important to him that he be there for his teammates no matter how he’s feeling on a particular day.
Susac has appeared in 121 of 123 games during his UA career. He has caught in 113 of them. He said football helped make him mentally tough. He cited summer days in the Sacramento suburbs when he and his teammates had to run sprints on turf in 105-degree heat.
Wildcats catcher Daniel Susac is congratulated in the dugout after scoring during Arizona's April 24 win over ASU.
Susac had to exit Arizona’s game against Arizona State last Friday because of stomach ailment. But before he left the contest, he asked to take his at-bat in the third inning. He smacked a three-run homer to right field. Susac appeared to be in great discomfort rounding the bases in sweltering Scottsdale. He spent the rest of the game in the locker room.
Irvin described Susac’s heroic home run as “typical.” It was anything but.
Susac’s matter-of-fact, blow-by-blow depiction of that sequence of events — and the at-bat itself — was typical. His recall is on par with one of the NFL’s premier QB coaches, Sean McVay of the Super Bowl-champion L.A. Rams.
“Before the game, you could tell I was not in the best shape,” Susac said. “So I just basically said, ‘I’m gonna go as long as I can.’ Right around the third inning, I was just about to pass out. I asked if I could have one more at-bat. Got the at-bat and made the most of it.”
He continued.
“My first at-bat he got me with a couple of fastballs. So I was just focused on getting it out front. He threw me one out over the plate that I could get my hands extended on. Just got it good the other way.”
Total recall
Susac credits his father and youth coach, Nick, for his photographic memory, calling it a “gift from my dad.” It might have been something Nick Susac did that that helped his youngest son develop his analytical skills.
Nick and his fellow coaches would call pitches when Daniel’s oldest brother, Andrew, was catching. Nick realized that that approach didn’t adequately prepare Andrew for professional baseball, where that responsibility fell on him. So Daniel was tasked with calling pitches as a kid. He then would discuss and break down the results with the coaches between innings.
“I could probably tell you my at-bats against Belmont (Redwood) Shores my 9-year-old year,” Susac said.
When he started playing youth football for the Woodcreek Junior Timberwolves, the naturally inquisitive Susac would question the coach’s play calls. He was able to recognize, even at age 8 or 9, what coverages he was seeing.
He still can.
Despite growing up in San Francisco 49ers country, Susac is an avid Green Bay Packers fan. As he explained it, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers were the best quarterbacks in the NFL when he was growing up. Most kids liked Brady better. So Susac went with Rodgers, who, like Brady, is from Northern California.
“I’ll watch press conferences from the Packers. I’ll watch everything. I’ll watch their games,” Susac said. “I’ll try to break it down as if I was a quarterback. I’ll see coverages — maybe somebody will disguise a cover-4 and drop into 2-man.”
Susac still loves football. He still misses it. Well, some of it.
“Games, a lot,” he said. “Practice, not a lot.
“But that game on Friday made it worth it. ... Friday-night lights is a feeling that’s hard to describe.”
Baseball has a different vibe. It has a different rhythm. It’s a different kind of grind.
For Susac, it’s all part of the same competitive undertaking. Whether he’s wearing a football helmet or a catcher’s mask, the goal is the same:
“Whatever I can do on an everyday basis to try and help us win.”
