Arizona Baseball: Daniel Susac drafted 19th overall by Oakland

With the Major League Baseball draft underway, it should come as no surprise that Arizona’s Daniel Susac was selected by the Oakland Athletics.

Fresh off yet another tremendous season, Arizona’s Daniel Susac was rewarded for his hard work and talent as he was selected 19th overall in the 2022 MLB Draft.

The news of Susac’s selection was made known on Sunday evening as the Oakland Athletics drafted the Wildcats’ prolific catcher in the first round.

As a sophomore this past season, Daniel hit a remarkable .366 with 12 home runs, 61 RBIs, and 19 doubles, all while sporting a .430 on-base percentage and a .582 slugging percentage.

His offensive firepower helped pace the Wildcats to a respectable 39-25 record, and a Miami Regional postseason bid. However, the Wildcats, unfortunately, lost to eventual NCAA Champion Ole Miss, in what was a rematch of the 2021 Tucson Super Regional.

Standing a towering 6-feet-4-inches and weighing nearly 220 pounds, Daniel Susac has a bright career and future ahead of him.

Daniel finishes his career having played 125 games with the Wildcats, amassing 181 hits, 24 home runs, 126 RBIs, and 43 doubles. He also sports a career .351 batting average with the Wildcats.

Despite playing in Tucson for just two seasons, Susac should go down as one of the best players to ever play at Arizona as he was the Conference’s Freshman of the Year in 2021 and was a First Team All-Conference selection for 2022.

Overall, Daniel dazzled fans with his clutch hitting and monstrous home runs, and his defensive presence behind the plate was second-to-none as well. Naturally, the Athletics liked what they saw and drafted Susac off his potential.

Susac is just the 12th Wildcat in program history to be drafted in the first round of the MLB Draft and is the first since former Wildcat catcher Austin Wells was selected 28th overall by the New York Yankees in 2020.

At Zona Zealots, we are happy and excited for Daniel and cannot wait to see where his career will take him. Either way, we will be following intently.