News
Kids are all right under Suzuki's tutelage
A's catcher ahead of curve when it comes to mentoring
By Mychael Urban / MLB.com
09/28/09 5:29 PM ET
OAKLAND -- Imagine being a young student, charged with babysitting someone only a few years younger, while also prepping for the SAT.Tough, right?
Now imagine doing that babysitting while actually taking the SAT.
Beyond tough, right?
Now imagine doing it virtually every night for six months.
Impossible, right?
Not for A's catcher Kurt Suzuki. Not by a long shot.
The aforementioned scenario is the big league baseball equivalent of what Suzuki has been up against in 2009, and not only has he taken great care of the youngsters with whom he's been entrusted, but he's aced the test with flying colors.
In fact, he's graduated with honors, at the top of his class. And with a diploma firmly in hand at the age of 25, he's well on his way to a Master's Degree in the art of Major League stardom.
The kids he's been handling are Oakland's starting pitchers, a collection that's been, in various forms, the youngest rotation in the bigs. Two 21-year-olds have been in the mix all year; a 22-year-old entered the fray a couple of months in; and a handful of hurlers -- mostly rookies -- ranging in age from 23 to 25 have played significant roles for large chunks of the season.
The nightly tests? Guiding these gifted-but-green young men through the minefield that is a 162-game grind.
"I've never looked at it quite like that," says Suzuki, who will play in his 142nd game of the season on Tuesday when the A's open their final road series of the year in Seattle with their 157th game. "I don't think it's been that difficult. It's a challenge, definitely, but I love it. It's exciting to me."
Suzuki, who made his big league debut in 2007 and was handed the reigns that July to what was a fairly established staff, is the source of tremendous excitement within the Oakland organization.
In less than 2 1/2 seasons, he's established himself as one of the top catchers in the American League, and 2009 is -- to this point -- his crowning achievement.
"We knew Kurt was going to be an excellent player," says A's general manager Billy Beane, who admitted he was putting Suzuki into a "trial-by-fire" situation upon trading respected veteran Jason Kendall to the Cubs before the '07 non-waiver Trade Deadline.
"But it'd probably be disingenuous of me to say we knew he'd be this good, this fast."
Just how good is Suzuki? Well, in addition to being extremely durable, as evidenced by the fact that he's leading AL catchers in starts for the second consecutive season, he's been so productive at the plate and behind it that, in the minds of many, only MVP candidate Joe Mauer of the Twins ranks ahead of him among the best backstops in the league.
"He's my No. 2, and it's a clear No. 2," says former Athletics infielder Shooty Babitt, a current big league scout and baseball analyst for Comcast SportsNet California. "And he's not far behind Mauer, if you ask me. We're talking about a guy who can do it all, and he's less than three years in.
"The sky's the limit for this kid."
It might be a stretch, though, to call Suzuki a kid. Yes, 25 is young. But he's had to grow up in a hurry since being named the Johnny Bench Award winner as the country's best collegiate catcher in 2004 after helping Cal-State Fullerton to that year's College World Series title.
Nicknamed "Kurt Klutch" as a Titan, Suzuki, who drove in what proved to be the CWS-winning run for Fullerton against the favored Texas Longhorns, was drafted in the second round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft and quickly rose through the ranks.
Known primarily for his defensive acumen -- excellent footwork, speedy release, strong and accurate throwing arm, solid game-calling -- early on, he's developed offensively at a breakneck pace.
After batting .249 in 68 games with the A's in 2007, he bumped that up to .279 in 2008, and this year he's increased his power numbers from seven homers and 42 RBIs last season to 15 homers and a team-high 85 RBIs heading into the Seattle series.
"It's really incredible what he's done, even taking the offense out of it, and we're talking about a guy we're hitting cleanup a lot these days," offers Oakland manager Bob Geren, a former big league catcher. "When he first came up, he was in a tough spot. We had guys like Dan Haren and Rich Harden and Joe Blanton in the rotation that year, and not only were they established, they had a great rapport with Jason, a lot of trust in him.
"But Kurt came in and did it right. He learned, he listened, he took his time getting to know everyone. Veterans appreciate a rookie who comes in and does it right, and he earned their trust pretty quickly.
Eventually, however, Haren, Blanton and Harden were traded, and the A's committed to a rebuilding project. The composition of the starting staff has turned over completely since Suzuki arrived, presenting him a formidable dual challenge.
"After those trades, we basically went young, and we went really young, particularly this year," Geren explains. "So now it's not just getting to know a whole new set of personalities, which is difficult enough, but it's doing more of the thinking for the pitchers than he'd been asked to do."
Even the youngest of the young recognizes as much.
"I can't imagine how difficult it's been to do what he's had to do here," says left-hander Brett Anderson, an 11-game winner who is a month younger than 21-year-old righty Trevor Cahill, who'll be going for his 11th win on Tuesday. "Having a guy like Kurt makes our jobs so much easier. He deserves a ton of credit."
He's getting it, too.
Teammates recently named Suzuki, who has helped raise thousands of dollars to offset the medical bills of good friend and former Fullerton teammate Jon Wilhite, who survived the horrific automobile accident that in April took the life of Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and two others, the recipient of the organization's highest internal honor, the Jim "Catfish" Hunter Award.
The honor annually recognizes an A's player for excellence on and off the field.
"Kurt isn't just the backbone of what we're doing here," says 25-year-old righty Dallas Braden, the Opening Night starter this year in his first full season as a starter. "He's the backbone and the brains."
Mychael Urban is a national writer for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
