Former Arizona catcher Daniel Susac has perfect night in first MLB start
Daniel Susac (6) started his first big league game as the San Francisco Giants played the New York Mets at Oracle Park in San Francisco, on Thursday, April 2, 2026. (Photo by Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images) Daniel Susac had to wait four seasons to get to the majors, then another six games just to make his big league debut. All that patience paid off on Thursday night.
The former Arizona Wildcats catcher went 3 for 3 with a walk in his first career start, helping his hometown San Francisco Giants beat the New York Mets 7-2. He became the first Giants player to reach base four times in his first start since 2006. In his first @MLB start, Daniel Susac came to the plate four times and reached base all four times 👏 pic.
twitter. com/1WFo2sRCyE — SFGiants (@SFGiants) April 3, 2026 The 24-year-old Susac, who made his MLB debut as a defensive replacement on Wednesday, wasted no time in his first plate appearance, sending a first-pitch curve ball into right-center field for a single. He singled through the left side of the infield on the next pitch he saw, then drew a 4-pitch walk in his third at-bat and singled up the middle to end the evening.
Per OPTA Stats , Susac is the first catcher with three hits and a walk in his first MLB start since Mike Piazza in 1992. Stay cool, rookie 🥶 pic. twitter.
com/FOtHoP4gbE — SFGiants (@SFGiants) April 3, 2026 Susac, who played for Arizona in 2021-22, was a 1 st round pick of the Oakland (now Sacramento) Athletics in the 2022 MLB Draft. Blocked at the big league level by other prospects, Susac helped Las Vegas reach the Triple-A championship game last season and then was not added to the Athletics’ 40-man roster in the offseason. That made him available for the Rule 5 Draft, which allows teams to pick up players from others’ farm systems who aren’t on the 40-man.