When the San Francisco Giants 2025 campaign wrapped up, catcher Daniel Susac wasn't even part of the organization's catching plans moving forward. That's because he wasn't even with the organization.
In December of 2025, the Minnesota Twins selected Susac in the Rule-5 draft, snatching him from the Athletics organization where he was originally their first round pick in 2022 out of the University of Arizona.
However, that same day, they immediately flipped him to the Giants for catching prospect Miguel Caraballo and cash considerations.
During the 2025 season, Susac ranked as the 12th best prospect within the Athletics organization, being valued with a 40-overall grade.
MLB Pipeline cited him to have an average 50-grade bat paired with excellent defense, hence his 55-grade arm and 50-grade fielding. Susac actually demonstrated solid offensive abilities in the minors, but his defensive value is the most important part of his profile.
Daniel Susac looks on during the ninth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Scott Marshall-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
After touching base on how Susac wound up with the Giants and the prospect status he carried, it's time to address how his debut 2026 season in San Francisco unfolded.
Susac was able to crack the Giants 2026 Opening Day roster, being slated as the backup catcher to Patrick Bailey, who ended up being traded to the Cleveland Guardians fairly early into the season.
After making his major league debut on April 1 at Petco Park against the San Diego Padres, Susac went on to play in 53 games while logging 161 plate appearances in the process.
He was able to post a .243 batting average and .664 OPS along with eight doubles, one triple, three home runs and 22 runs batted in. Susac's offensive profile still has some work to be done, but he certainly didn't disappoint behind the plate.
Susac was worth 8 fielding run value according to Baseball Savant and was solid in almost every defensive category being a catcher (except for blocking where he ranked in the 29th percentile).
He excelled at throwing out base stealers, going 13 for 39 on stolen base attempts, which equals out to a superb 32% mark and tied him with Blue Jays' Brandon Valenzuela for eighth-best in the majors.
Susac was able to be really effective at throwing out base stealers because his excellent 1.89 seconds of pop time ranked in the 80th percentile.
Throwing out base runners wasn't Susac's only defensive highlight as he also proved to be really good at pitch framing.
According to Baseball Savant, amongst catchers with a minimum of 100 shadow pitches registered, which are pitches located right on the edges of the strike zone, Susac ranked ninth with 6 catcher framing runs, good enough for the 88th percentile.
Former Giants catcher Bailey' always showed to have great defensive abilities, but Susac is basically matching his performance. In fact, both Susac and Bailey were tied in 2026, each being worth 8 fielding run value.
The Giants didn't skip on beat defensively behind the plate after Bailey's departure to Cleveland. Actually, the Giants parted ways with Bailey pretty early in the season when they traded him on May 9. His departure left the door open for Susac to get more playing time along with Jesus Rodriguez.
Unfortunately, Susac's 2026 season was cut short on August 10 when he hit the injured list with a left knee patella fracture . He was quickly transferred to the 60-day injured list on August 19.
On a positive note, in a recent article from Maria Guardado who covers the Giants for MLB , she mentioned that Susac should be ready to go for the 2027 season, which would be a huge win for the team.
Daniel Susac hits a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Justine Willard-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
If Susac enters the 2027 season healthy and ready to go, it's almost certain that he'll immediately step into being the Giants primary catcher. The bat still needs work, and that'll likely come with more playing time, but his defense is too valuable to not have on the field.
Susac's abilities aren't really the question here, we already know that he's a first-round talent and proved to be a top prospect with the Athletics, but health is the big unknown in this scenario.
If Susac isn't fully healthy when Opening Day rolls around next year, the Giants do have a few young internal options on the 40-man roster they could resort to.
Drew Cavanaugh posted a .606 OPS this past season over 166 plate appearances while Jesus Rodriguez managed a .728 OPS across 58 plate appearances. The only problem is that they're both inexperienced and still only 24-years old.
The Giants also have veteran catcher Andrew Knizner on the 40-man who's been able to manage a career .212 batting average and .600 OPS over eight major league seasons.
Essentially, if Susac is healthy come next year, it's almost certain he'll be the Opening Day catcher , but if he's still rehabbing, the Giants can pivot to the trio of Cavanaugh, Rodriguez or Knizner.
We'll have to see what happens when it's all said and done but Susac has shown enough to earn the primary catching role with the Giants.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/giants/onsi as Giants May Be Ready To Turn to Daniel Susac Despite Lingering Concerns .
