Our top 100 countdown continues with 76 in UCONN junior catcher Zac Susi.
He played in 53 games for the Huskies as a frsehman in 2016 and hit a solid .250, but it was his defense that impressed a lot of people as he cut down 11 would-be base stealers. That year he also scored 19 runs, hit 8 doubles, stole two bases, had 21 walks and just 26 strikeouts.
Susi made strides as a hitter in 2017 hitting .286 in 213 at-bats with 23 runs scored, 9 doubles, 2 home runs and 40 RBI. He walked 27 times and struck out 36 times with an on-base-percentage of .362.
That led to him getting an invite to play in the Cape Cod Baseball League this past summer where he hit .267 in 75 at-bats during the regular season. But he struggled mightily in six playoff games picking up just 3 hits in 25 at-bats.
Overall he hit .225 in 102 at-bats with 12 runs scored, 3 doubles, 3 home runs, 10 RBI, 12 walks and 26 strikeouts.
At 6-foot-1 he’s a pretty tall catcher, and at 203 pounds he’s not a big catcher. He looks more like a first baseman, but he obviously has the defensive skills to stick behind the plate.
Susi has a very smooth swing as a left-handed hitter — as most left-handers do — but you’d like to see him generate a little more power using his hips.
I think as he gets a little stronger we see him add some pop to his game. We saw a little bit of that in the Cape Cod League as he belted 3 home runs, which is more than he’s hit in two years at UCONN.
His defensive capabilities are obviously what make him such a high prospect, but if he can show some home run potential in 2018 we’ll see him become one of the top catching prospects in next year’s draft.
