OC Register: Kurt Suzuki picked the Angels to stay close to home, reunite with Perry Minasian

[AngelsWin.com]

With 14 years in the big leagues, a 37-year-old body and a growing family, Kurt Suzuki wasn’t simply looking for playing time or money when he selected his team for 2021.

The veteran catcher said on Thursday that he picked the Angels because of a combination of other factors, including his familiarity with General Manager Perry Minasian, a belief in the Angels’ young pitchers and the chance to stay at home in Redondo Beach with his wife and three kids, ages 9 to 4.

“We had an offer for more playing (time) and more money, but at this point in my career, our main focus was staying close to home,” said Suzuki, who last week agreed to a $1.5 million deal to be the Angels’ backup catcher. “I thought it was the perfect fit.”

The deal with the Angels also brings Suzuki back to Orange County, where he had blossomed into a pro prospect at Cal State Fullerton before getting drafted by the Oakland A’s in 2004.

Suzuki admitted that his body can no longer handle the rigors of catching every day, but the Angels are only expecting him to catch about twice a week, behind Max Stassi.

Suzuki also said he was intrigued by a chance to rejoin Minasian, who was the Atlanta Braves’ assistant GM when Suzuki was there in 2018. Suzuki also mentioned Alex Tamin, who came from the Atlanta front office to join Minasian with the Angels.

“We had a young team and very old-school mentality, and having Perry and Tam come in and pretty much restructure the whole analytics department and how they view things was pretty eye-opening to me,” Suzuki said.

Suzuki had been with the Braves in 2017, when they went 72-90. Minasian arrived the following winter and helped build a team that went 90-72, the first of three consecutive postseason appearances.

Suzuki said he’s hoping that a reunion with Minasian can help “see if I can keep improving.”

Suzuki’s interest in analytics has been sufficient to let him know what he doesn’t do well. According to FanGraphs’ pitch-framing statistics, Suzuki ranks 80th of 81 catchers who have caught at least 500 innings since 2017.

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“I know that analytics hates me, receiving-wise,” Suzuki said, “but I feel like I can bring a lot more to the table with game-calling, sequencing, handling pitchers and things like that.”

 

Suzuki suggested that there might only be 10 or 15 borderline pitches a game that need framing, while there are as many 200 times a game he can impact the outcome simply by putting down the right fingers.

Any way Suzuki can help the Angels pitchers will be necessary. Pitching has obviously been the team’s downfall in recent years, and Minasian has said at every opportunity over the past couple of months that their hope is to improve the overall run-prevention in more ways than simply acquiring new pitchers.

The Angels are hoping that the catchers can make the current pitchers better, and Suzuki said he’s eager to do just that.

“I love to be a part of the young pitchers who have a lot of potential and see if I can help them out any way possible to potentially get better,” he said. “If it’s just one thing, I’ve done my job. Watching them from afar and how talented they are, and how good they’ve done so far in their careers, I’m excited to be a part of it.”

 

“I love to be a part of the young pitchers who have a lot of potential and see if I can help them out any way possible to potentially get better,” said Kurt Suzuki, who last week agreed to a $1.5 million contract to be the Angels’ backup catcher. “If it’s just one thing, I’ve done my job. Watching them from afar and how talented they are, and how good they’ve done so far in their careers, I’m excited to be a part of it.” (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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