Daniel Susac’s First Giants Start Filled with Hits, MLB Milestone

Daniel Susac may be the rare Rule 5 Draft selection that works out handsomely for the San Francisco Giants.

Susac had three hits in his first start for the Giants in place of Patrick Bailey, who got a day off after starting the first six games of the season. Susac got a taste of the Majors on Wednesday when he came in late as a backup. But Thursday was his first full-fledged nine-inning game behind the plate as a major leaguer. And he had an incredible debut.

Susac went 3-for-3 at the plate and called Robbie Ray’s first win of the season behind it. He also guided rookie Blake Tidwell to his first Major League save, a three-inning stint at the end of a 7-2 victory at Oracle Park.

With his family in the stands, Susac did all kinds of memorable things.

“I definitely always envisioned it as a little kid, but to actually live it out was awesome,” Susac said to MLB.com after the game. “I probably went through this exact scenario so many times in the backyard with my brothers, so it was a pretty fun one altogether.”

Daniel Susac’s Big Night

Daniel Susac collects his first MLB hit with his family in the stands 🥹 pic.twitter.com/Iw5cs5Eiin
— MLB (@MLB) April 3, 2026

Susac was a Rule 5 draft pick in December. Before that, he spent four seasons in the Athletics organization after he was selected in the first round of the 2022 MLB draft out of Arizona. Because he was a Rule 5 draft selection, he had to make San Francisco's opening-day 26-man roster or be sent back to the Athletics. Susac beat out several veteran competitors, including Eric Haase, who was optioned back to Triple-A Sacramento this week.

He is also the younger brother of Andrew Susac, who was Buster Posey’s backup for a couple of years with the Giants. So the Roseville, Calif., native knows the clubhouse well. His family couldn’t control themselves after he got his first MLB hit on the first pitch he saw on Thursday.

"I was a little surprised about first pitch curveball, I was thinking I was getting a heater, then I saw it mid-air and I was like UH OH."

Daniel Susac was not expecting an off speed pitch in his first big league AB, but he adjusted and dumped it into right field for a base hit… pic.twitter.com/FNE3YlFkSA
— KNBR (@KNBR) April 3, 2026

With that, he made a little history. Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com, he and Daniel became the sixth brother duo to each record a hit in their first Major League plate appearance since 1961. The list includes another Giants star, Heliot Ramos, and his brother Henry, along with the Contreras brothers, Willson and William. But the Susacs became the second duo to do it for the same team. Atlanta’s Mickey & Rick Mahler also did it in 1977 and 1979, respectively. The Mahlers were both pitchers.

Susac had three hits and that put him in rare company. He became the first catcher in nearly 35 years to have three or more hits in his first career Major League start, per OptaStats. Mike Piazza did it for the Los Angeles Dodgers when he debuted on Sept. 1, 1992.

He also drew a walk, which meant that he reached base four times on Thursday. That put him in rare company with Kevin Frandsen. He was the last Giants player to reach base safely four or more times in his first start, which was on April 28, 2006, per Langs.

Daniel Susac collected a memento from the umpire after his first MLB start in the Giants' win 🙌 pic.twitter.com/NvBmNqUU7b
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) April 3, 2026

Even the umpire got that it was a big deal. After Tidwell’s final pitch, which led to a strikeout, Susac walked toward Tidwell when the umpire stopped him and handed in the lineup card. Susac then tried to hand Tidwell the baseball since it was his first career save. One could argue that ball belonged to Susac too.