Daniel Susac Returns to the Giants for the Second Half
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Two IL stints, one season — and the Giants still handed Daniel Susac the ball for the second half. Here’s what that means for every catcher who has ever been sent to the shelf.
The San Francisco Giants activated catcher Daniel Susac on July 17, 2026, for their second-half opener against the Seattle Mariners. He is 25 years old, and the Giants are still building around him.
That is the part worth pausing on.
A season that keeps interrupting itself
Susac arrived at 2026 with the kind of résumé that earns a locker. The Oakland Athletics took him 19th overall in the 2022 MLB Draft — $3.5 million — and he came to San Francisco via trade. His 2025 Triple-A season put the league on notice: .832 OPS, 18 home runs. The Giants put him on the Opening Day roster.
He rewarded them immediately. In his first 11 games, Susac hit .478. Then right elbow neuritis shelved him on April 20, and the number disappeared into the calendar.
He went to rehab and hit .528 in five games. That figure is not a misprint.
He came back, played 37 more games, and posted a .262 average with a .640 OPS. The .478 did not return — but he was behind the plate, absorbing the speed of the major leagues.
| Stretch | G | AVG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|
| First MLB stretch (pre-elbow IL) | 11 | .478 | — |
| Elbow rehab assignment | 5 | .528 | — |
| Post-return stretch | 37 | .262 | .640 |
Then, on June 26, a back strain sent him to the injured list a second time.
The credentials behind the name
Before the injuries, before San Francisco, there was a Sacramento-area kid — Jesuit High School, Carmichael, a suburb 20 minutes from downtown — who Perfect Game ranked the No. 7 catcher in the 2022 national class. He committed to Oregon State, then switched to Arizona, then walked onto the Pac-12 diamond as a freshman and hit .335/.383/.591 with 12 home runs and 64 RBI. The Pac-12 named him Freshman of the Year. The All-Defensive team claimed him.
The Athletics drafted him a year later. The Giants got him in a trade.
He is not a prospect anymore. He is a 25-year-old major leaguer who has been on the IL twice before the All-Star break — and the Giants still handed him the ball for the second half.
What a catcher can learn from this
There is a particular uneasiness in getting hurt twice in the same season. The second time, the questions get louder. You start wondering if the first healthy stretch was luck. You wonder if the coaching staff will stop waiting for you. You wonder if the rehab for the first injury somehow set up the second.
Susac’s answer was a .528 rehab line, followed by 37 more games. The Giants’ answer was to bring him back for the opener of the second half.
That kind of trust is not given. It is earned. In rehab assignments nobody broadcasts, in bullpen sessions nobody attends, in the way you receive a pitcher when the box score will never show your name. A catcher who gets hurt does not stay a catcher by waiting. He stays one by working, by keeping his mechanics sound, and by showing up ready each time the door opens.
The numbers may dip. Susac’s did — from .478 to .262. Yet, his OBP is .640, He’s on base more than half of his at bats. That is not failure. That is adjustment. What matters is whether you keep going.
The Giants kept going with him. So should you.
Try this at your next practice
- Rehab-mode receiving drill. After any break (illness, vacation, a few days off), warm up your receiving hand with soft toss behind the plate before live pitching. Catch 20–30 pitches from a coach or partner at 70% velocity, focusing entirely on quiet hands and framing — no footwork, no throws. Susac’s .528 rehab line didn’t happen by accident; catchers who come back sharp do the fundamental reps first.
- Mechanical consistency check. Pick one mechanic — setup stance, glove position, or secondary stance — and track it for every pitch in a bullpen session. Count how many times you do it exactly as practiced. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s knowing your number. A catcher who knows his mechanics under pressure can rebuild them after a shelf.
- Trust-the-process log. After any return from an injury or a slump, keep a one-line note in a notebook or phone after each practice: what went right, what felt off. Susac played 37 games after his return before the back strain hit. That is a lot of days of trusting the process when the .478 hadn’t come back yet. A log turns adjustment from a feeling into a record.
Sources: San Francisco Giants catcher Daniel Susac returns from the injured list (Sports Illustrated) · Daniel Susac returns to the Giants with a clear path to the starting catcher job (SF Standard) · Giants’ Daniel Susac returns from injured list; Christian Koss sent to minors (Yahoo Sports) · Doctor explains Giants catcher Daniel Susac’s right elbow neuritis injury cause, recovery timeline (NBC Sports Bay Area)