{"id":671871,"date":"2026-04-09T19:42:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T19:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/671871\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T19:42:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T19:42:36","slug":"daniel-susacs-story-is-great-but-giants-have-right-starting-catcher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/671871\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel Susac\u2019s Story is Great, but Giants Have Right Starting Catcher"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daniel Susac\u2019s story is one of the best the San Francisco Giants<\/a> have to offer so far this season. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s a Roseville, Calif., native whose older brother played for the San Francisco Giants for a couple of seasons when he was a kid. He was the Athletics\u2019 first-round pick in 2022 out of Arizona and San Francisco scooped him up in the Rule 5 Draft. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s off to a red-hot start. He is 6-for-7 at the plate and in collecting hits in his first five at-bats he became the first Major League player to start his career 5-for-5 since 1977 when Ted Cox did it.<\/a> <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a great story. But he\u2019s also a rookie, and there are good reasons to continue to trust Patrick Bailey behind the plate while mixing Susac into the order a bit more. <\/p>\n

Daniel Susac and Patrick Bailey\"San<\/p>\n

San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Before Wednesday\u2019s game with Philadelphia, manager Tony Vitello<\/a> was asked why he wasn\u2019t starting Susac in the game after he started in Tuesday\u2019s night\u2019s game. Aside from the fact that most managers don\u2019t start the same catcher in a day game after a night game, manager Tony Vitello had other reasons. <\/p>\n

\u201cWith Bailey and Susac we mapped that out well in advance,\u201d Vitello said to NBC Sports Bay Area <\/a>and other outlets. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean you stick to it, but it worked out that way so we can set them up the right way. You don\u2019t want to wear Bailey out especially early in the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vitello<\/a> could have used Susac as the designated hitter and rode the hot bat but opted to stick with getting Luis Arraez off his feet for the day and use him at DH. After all he\u2019s a .320 hitter and has a considerable track record that Susac does not. <\/p>\n

Susac hits his first career RBI triple to extend the lead \ud83d\udca5 pic.twitter.com\/u32qqTA2pU<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 SFGiants (@SFGiants) April 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Bailey\u2019s bat is an issue right now, but he\u2019s not the only bat with issues in the order. After Wednesday\u2019s game he had a 1.47 batting average after a 1-for-3 game. But he\u2019s one of the best catchers in the game in terms of defense and pitch framing. He\u2019s already proving that framing still matters in an ABS era and his command of the zone has allowed him to challenge 11 pitchers and overturn five so far. <\/p>\n

Susac is a career .280 hitter in the minor leagues who has hit at least 10 home runs in each of his last two seasons. That\u2019s a better average than Bailey\u2019s Major League career (.227), but that\u2019s in the minors. It\u2019s unlikely Susac\u2019s bat will continue to produce at this level. Continuing to use him as a change of pace behind the plate keeps Bailey fresh and allows Susac to make a smooth transition into the Majors. \u00a0<\/p>\n

If anything, using Susac as a DH on off days could help the Giants through this rough patch offensively. That\u2019s worth considering more that siphoning off more playing time from Bailey. <\/p>\n