The Giants announced that catcher Daniel Susac placed on the 10-day injured list, resume until April 20, due to right elbow neuritis. He will miss about two to three weeks, according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. A hunter Eric Haase has been selected to take his place on the active list. Opening the 40-man spot for Haase, the right-hander Jose Butto was transferred to the 60-day disabled list.
Susac was selected in the Rule 5 draft, using an intermediary. The Twins picked him up from the Athletics and then traded him to the Giants for a minor leaguer Miguel Caraballo. The Foxes had it Patrick Bailey listed as their catcher but Susac and Haase battled for the backup job.
In the end, Susac won the job and has been in tears. He has a .478/.500/.652 line in his first 24 major league plate appearances. He wasn’t going to hit like that forever, especially with a .550 batting average on balls in play, but the Giants really needed that. Most of the rest of the roster was struggling, including Bailey. He is considered by many to be the best defensive player in the game but he has never been much of a threat in the batter’s box. He has a career .226/.283/.331 line and is .151/.211/.151 this year.
Susac’s strong showing and the poor performance of the lineup, including Bailey, seemed to lead to more playing time for Susac. That will be put on hold for the next few weeks. Although Susac had to step down, it is still not good for him to beat IL if the club is struggling to get runs.
Haase will jump into the lineup and see if he can work out some of the issues. When Susac won the Opening Day job, Haase was released but quickly re-signed a new major league contract. He appeared in nine Triple-A games this year with a .250/.300/.472 line.
His best quality is his strength. He had a 22-homer season with the Tigers back in 2021 and has 48 home runs in 1,224 career plate appearances. However, his case is very bad. His 30.7% strikeout rate is the highest and is over 40% since the start of 2024. His 6.2% walk rate is also low. Despite the long balls, his career .228/.278/.396 line translates to an 85 wRC+, which is 15% worse than the league average hitter.
That doesn’t mean it’s a disaster for pitchers because backstops are typically 10% lower across the league. For a backup, the threshold for respectability is even lower. Unfortunately, Haase is not considered a strong defender. He is 12th in Defensive Runs Saved in his career behind the plate. Statcast rated him as an average thrower but below average in blocking and fielding.
Haase is out of options and may be out of the lineup when Susac returns. For now, he’ll try to back up Bailey as the Giants try to gain momentum. They are currently 9-13, and the Mets are the only club with fewer runs scored so far. The Giants lead the Dodgers 16-6 in a three-game set starting tonight.
Photo courtesy of Geoff Burke, Imagn Images
