Anything can happen on draft day. But it’s hard to imagine any scenario will catch Daniel Susac by surprise.
Susac has experienced the fickle nature of the MLB draft before — through his oldest brother, Andrew. Andrew Susac was selected twice before deciding to turn pro. He knows exactly what his younger brother and fellow catcher is about to go through.
“You never know who likes you — who really likes you,” Andrew Susac said. “I’m excited for him. He’s in a really good spot.”
Following two exceptional seasons at Arizona, Daniel Susac is expected to be a first-round pick Sunday. He has a chance to be the highest selection in UA history, a distinction currently held by outfielder Trevor Crowe, the 14th overall choice in 2005.
If he goes anywhere in the first round, Daniel will have bragging rights over Andrew, a second-round pick (No. 86 overall) in 2011 out of Oregon State. You can be sure Daniel will remind his brother of that.
Daniel Susac, here homering against Oregon in the Pac-12 Tournament, hit .335 as a freshman and .366 as a sophomore at UA, with a combined 126 RBIs in 125 games.
Daniel described the relationship among the three Susac siblings — including middle brother Matt, who pitched at Nevada — as “very competitive.” Daniel called Andrew his “biggest supporter and biggest critic.”
“That’s where I made a lot of strides in college, listening to him,” Daniel told MLB Network at the MLB draft combine. “He’s just a great coach. He knows when I’m off and when I’m on. I love having him on my side.”
Daniel and Andrew, who recently retired from pro ball, talk to each other almost every day. They speak the same language. Constructive criticism from Andrew — a former MLB catcher — carries considerable weight.
“I’m hard on him,” Andrew Susac said. “But I know when to pump the brakes on that. Baseball is hard.
“He knows I’m not beating him up. We both expect a high standard. It works well.”
Andrew and Daniel have had many similar experiences. They’ve seen the game through the same lens. They’re related by blood. But don’t assume the catchers are carbon copies of each other. Far from it.
Similarities, differences
It’s weird to ask a father to compare his sons’ baseball skills — weirder still to ask him to compare their personalities.
But Nick Susac, who not only raised his boys but coached them, views Daniel as something of a Susac 2.0. After guiding Andrew through youth baseball, Nick was able to assess his own performance as a coach. What could he have done differently?
“Any dad would tell you the secondary product is always better,” Andrew Susac said. “He learned so much from my struggles, trials and tribulations — and I was a pretty damn good player.”
Andrew was rated as a top-50 prospect coming out of Jesuit High School in Carmichael, California. After spending two seasons at Oregon State, he appeared in 114 games with four MLB clubs over six seasons.
Nick said Andrew and Daniel have similar power and arm strength. But “Daniel was a better hitter,” Nick said. “Andrew thought that if he hit a ball 400 feet, he would have to hit the next one 450. He didn’t hit the ball the other way like Daniel does.
“With Andrew, he just went through it (opposite-field hitting drills) to get me off his back. Then he’d hit a home run and stick his tongue out. Daniel was an observer of all that. He saw that whole dynamic.”
Nick created a practice scenario in which hits to left field by right-handed batters were considered outs. At Arizona, Daniel Susac often would take the ball the other way with two strikes. He batted .351 over two seasons, including a .366 mark as a sophomore. Andrew never topped .300 at OSU.
UA catcher Daniel Susac is "a bounce-back player,” said brother Andrew, a former MLB player. "I was never that way. I could go into a skid. He takes it as, ‘I had a bad day ... get back after it tomorrow.’ Which I think is going to help him in pro ball."
Andrew believes Daniel’s makeup makes him less susceptible to prolonged slumps. He hit safely in 53 of 64 games this past season. Only once did he go two games in a row without a hit.
“He’s a bounce-back player,” Andrew said. “I was never that way. I could go into a skid. He takes it as, ‘I had a bad day ... get back after it tomorrow.’ Which I think is going to help him in pro ball.”
The ways in which Andrew and Matt would torment Daniel — they’re 11 and 10 years older than their little bro — made him mentally tough. For example, while playing Wiffle ball in the backyard, Daniel might hit a ball that was fair — but the brothers would call it foul.
“And he’d lose his mind,” Andrew said. “Me and my brother Matt were swimming in his dome.”
Daniel had a temper as a child that he learned to control. Whereas “Andrew doesn’t have a filter in a lot of ways,” Nick Susac said, “Daniel knows when and where.”
“He’s much more like my dad,” Andrew said. “I’m more like my uncle (John Susac, father of UA pitcher Anthony Susac). We’re ADD. Always gotta be doing something.
“Daniel likes his Sunday football. He’s very chill, soft-spoken.
“We’re pretty different. But we both have that killer instinct.”
‘Be humble’
Just because you know what’s coming doesn’t mean you can hit it. If the Susacs learned anything the last time they did this it’s to expect a curveball.
Andrew barely had any pre-draft contact with the team that drafted him — the San Francisco Giants. In one sense, it was a blessing — the Giants are the Susacs’ favorite team. In another, it was a challenge — the Giants had Buster Posey, who earned National League Rookie of the Year honors the year before they drafted Andrew Susac.
Andrew made it to the big leagues in 2014 as one of Posey’s backups. The Giants won the World Series for the third time in five seasons.
“Pretty nice way to start,” Andrew Susac said. “But I kind of jinxed myself. I said, ‘It’s gotta be all downhill from here.’ ”
Andrew Susac follows the flight of a home run in 2016. Susac hit .219 in 278 big-league at-bats with four teams in his career.
Andrew suffered one injury after another. He got traded twice. Eventually, the injuries damaged his psyche — “I just got tired of getting hurt,” he said — and he decided to retire from playing. He’s giving baseball lessons on weekends and spending time with his family — wife Maggie and son Luke, 2. They have another child on the way.
If they have any say in the matter, the Susacs would prefer Daniel land with an organization that has a clearer path to the starting catcher job. Wherever that is, it won’t be easy. Just ask Andrew. He’s lived it.
What advice does he have for his baby brother?
“You’re your best coach,” Andrew said. “Be coachable. But at the end of the day, trust your ability.
“Stay strong upstairs. That’s where most guys falter.
“Be humble. Because baseball’s a very humbling game.”
