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鈥淚t鈥檚 still there mentally,鈥� the sophomore catcher said. 鈥淚鈥檒l watch the games over again, see where we could have maybe done something.鈥�

鈥淗e wants a do-over so bad,鈥� said his father, Nick. 鈥淗e felt they could have won it.鈥�

If this seems antithetical to the baseball adage that the most important pitch is the next one, well, it is. But there are some things you need to understand about Daniel Susac. Once you do, it all makes sense.

First off, he excels at compartmentalizing his feelings. It鈥檚 an essential tool for a catcher, who, unlike every other position player, has to deal directly with another person 鈥� the pitcher 鈥� throughout the game. If you strike out to end an inning, you can鈥檛 take that frustration back behind the plate.

Susac succeeded more than most last season, when he batted .335 with 12 home runs and 65 RBIs and was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. He failed too, as all hitters do, but didn鈥檛 let it affect him.

鈥淗e never took offense to defense or defense to offense,鈥� UA pitching coach Dave Lawn said.

That skill 鈥� being able to separate the good from the bad; the extraneous from what鈥檚 really important 鈥� will come in handy more than ever this season. Susac is a consensus preseason All-American. He鈥檚 projected to be a high first-round pick in this year鈥檚 MLB draft. It can be a lot.

鈥淭here鈥檚 people here every day to watch him,鈥� said UA hitting coach Toby DeMello, who also tutors the catchers. 鈥淎nytime there鈥檚 external voices or pressure, it can add something for sure. But he does a really good job of ... I don鈥檛 want to say ignoring the outside noise but harnessing it.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not like that鈥檚 all fake. He鈥檚 earned the right to be a preseason All-American. He鈥檚 earned the right to be in the conversation to be one of the top picks, if not the top pick, in the draft. We don鈥檛 run from it. We embrace it.鈥�

Susac said anyone who contends they don鈥檛 hear the noise is lying to themselves. You just have to know when and how to shut it off.

You can also be proactive about it. You can try to prove the so-called experts right.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 cool that all these other people think that you鈥檙e really good,鈥� DeMello said. 鈥淏ut are you going to work like that? Are you going to work like you鈥檙e the No. 1 pick?

鈥淥ther people might think that, but do you think that? Do you believe that? If you鈥檙e working like that every single day, then the results will be what they are. He鈥檚 put in the work and the time and effort.鈥�

Self-improvement plan

The second thing you should know about Susac is that he鈥檚 a fierce competitor. You wouldn鈥檛 necessarily get that impression from talking to him. The 20-year-old is baby-faced, composed and introspective.

Don鈥檛 let that fool you.

鈥淗e鈥檚 got a real mean streak in him that people really don鈥檛 know about,鈥� said UA coach Chip Hale, whose team opens the 2022 season Feb. 18.

鈥淗e鈥檚 really got a nasty, competitive personality,鈥� Lawn said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not over the top. He鈥檚 not going in the back of the tunnel and punching a hole in the storage container.鈥�

Susac is competitive 鈥渋n all the best ways,鈥� Lawn said. This offseason, Susac set out to compete with himself 鈥� to improve his game in a variety of ways to live up to the hype, or even exceed it.

Susac is considered a plus defender, blessed with 鈥渁s good an arm as any big-leaguer I鈥檝e seen,鈥� said Hale, who spent the past 15 seasons coaching big-leaguers.

Susac played quarterback at Jesuit High School in Carmichael, California, a suburb of Sacramento. He鈥檚 built like one, too, at 6 feet 4 inches and about 220 pounds. But height isn鈥檛 considered an asset for catchers, who are tasked with operating as low to the ground as possible to frame pitches below the knees and block balls in the dirt.

Susac has played catcher all his life, so none of those movements is unnatural to him. Still, he sought to improve his flexibility. So Susac is among the players who have incorporated yoga into their workout routines.

Under DeMello, a former college and minor-league catcher, Susac has worked to quicken and quiet his setup behind the plate.

鈥淥ur whole thing was simplifying everything and making it more vanilla, for lack of a better term,鈥� Susac said.

鈥淭he biggest improvements that he鈥檚 made have had nothing to do with me,鈥� DeMello said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been his work ethic and the time he spent in the weight room.鈥�

Susac has added muscle and bulk to his frame. He recently checked in at 223 pounds and would like play in the 215-220 range. He started last season at 205, eventually dipped below 200 and wore down late in the campaign.

As a hitter, Susac has focused on being more patient and disciplined after posting more than twice as many strikeouts (47) as walks (19) last season. His role in the UA lineup has changed. The top five batters from one of the nation鈥檚 most prolific offenses were drafted or transferred. Opponents will game-plan around Susac now. He won鈥檛 get many pitches to hit.

鈥淵ou鈥檝e gotta identify the guy you don鈥檛 want to beat you,鈥� Hale said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 the guy circled this year.鈥�

Baseball family

The third thing you should know about Susac is that being in the spotlight, or at least adjacent to it, is nothing new for him.

Daniel Susac is the youngest of three baseball-playing brothers. Middle brother Matt pitched at Nevada under Lawn and former UA coach Jay Johnson. Oldest brother Andrew, also a catcher, made it to the big leagues. He appeared in 114 games from 2014-20 and spent last season in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

Daniel saw Andrew go through the recruitment process. (He ended up at Oregon State, where Daniel initially committed.) Daniel saw Andrew go through the draft process, not once but twice. (He signed with the San Francisco Giants after being picked in the second round in 2011.)

What better resource could an elite college catcher with professional aspirations possibly have?

Said Lawn: 鈥淗aving a major-league brother who played the same position and the amount of knowledge that comes with that, and then having another brother who played Division I ... I remember the first time I saw Daniel. It was probably our first year at Nevada, and Daniel was 11 or 12. He鈥檚 hitting. He鈥檚 taking BP with us. Who gets to do that?

鈥淚鈥檓 sure there鈥檚 other scenarios where he got exposed to things that most kids aren鈥檛. It鈥檚 a baseball family. How could it not influence him? Even if he licked only three or four nuggets off the grass over all those years, it鈥檚 probably more than most.鈥�

Daniel Susac described his relationship with his brothers as part-ongoing rivalry, part-unwavering support system. His competitiveness, and how he channels it, springs from that foundation.

From the time he was a toddler, Susac tried desperately to keep up with his siblings, who are 10 and 11 years his senior. He lost more than he won, and he didn鈥檛 handle it well. That carried over onto the diamond.

鈥淗is brothers would take pictures of him raging,鈥� their dad said. 鈥淗e saw how stupid he looked.鈥�

Susac learned he wouldn鈥檛 last in this sport riding that emotional roller coaster. He learned how to handle failure. He learned to compartmentalize.

So yeah, memories of the College World Series linger 鈥� the hope, the disappointment. Susac keeps them tucked away, letting the fire burn within.