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Baltimore Orioles: Thoughts on new catcher Andrew Susac

By Kristen Bentley

LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 21: Catcher Andrew Susac #34 of the San Francisco Giants slides behind home plate to grab a wild pitch in the first inning during the MLB game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on June 21, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 21: Catcher Andrew Susac #34 of the San Francisco Giants slides behind home plate to grab a wild pitch in the first inning during the MLB game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on June 21, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images) /
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Nope, this is not the news you were hoping to hear. The Baltimore Orioles did not sign a pitcher, but instead, they nabbed a catcher from the Milwaukee Brewers instead.

Sadly, in what seems like a never-ending stream of castoffs from other teams, this new Baltimore Orioles catcher was designated-for-assignment by the Brew Crew earlier in the week.

Now, the Orioles have another guy who can catch and has some minor league options left. In exchange, the Orioles will give the Brewers cash or a player to be named later.

History of the player

This player is Andrew Susac and the information comes straight from the Orioles and the MLB.

Susac should be able to fill a need at catcher, but he might not be the catcher that Orioles fans were hoping to see. He’s 27 years old and was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 2011. He’s played for the San Francisco Giants and the Brewers, but has spend the majority of his career in the minor leagues.

Susac played 87 games with the Giants and batted .240/.309/.407. But he only played 17 games with the Brewers and hits batting stats were abysmal: .172/.226/.310. He has a total of seven home runs in his career and 35 RBIs.

Will he succeed in Birdland?

It’s difficult to deduce exactly what type of hitter he is because his numbers vary within seasons and between seasons. For example, he played for two different Pacific Coast League teams in 2016. With Giants farm team, he hit .273/.343/.455 in 209 at-bats. But, when he moved to the Brewers Triple-A team in the same league, he dropped dramatically to .125/.163/.150 in 40 at-bats. He was injured during the 2016 season, so that could have affected his performance.

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However, he never seemed to get it together after leaving the Giants organization. Hopefully, this will change when he moves into Birdland.

On defense, his numbers aren’t bad. Other than playing 64 innings at first base in 2014, he has spent the majority of his time being the dish. In nearly 3370 innings at all levels, he has a fielding percentage of .987 with a range factor per nine of 8.17. He’s caught 34% of runners who have attempted to steal on him.

When will the team sign pitchers?

This is another in a long string of unsatisfying acquisitions. The team still desperately needs pitching if it plans to contend with the stacks lineups on the teams to the north. Susac is certainly not a veteran catcher, but he is a catcher with some experience. The Orioles do have good coaching for catchers, so he could end up going better than expected.

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Caleb Joseph, Austin Wynns, and Chance Sisco are still prominently featured on the 40-man roster on the MLB site. If Susac is placed on the roster, he will be the 40th man on it. Welcome to Baltimore, Mr. Susac.

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