Joining Orioles a breath of fresh air for Susac

SARASOTA, Fla. - Andrew Susac has a plan. And a color scheme.

Susac feels right as home with the Orioles, who acquired him on Feb. 2 to compete for a job as backup catcher. It isn't strictly his welcoming teammates or a hankering for grouper. Orange and black work for him.

"I think it's awesome," he said. "It seems like I can't get out of an orange and black jersey. Ever since Little League. I played for the Orioles in Little League. Funny story. From there to Oregon State and then the Giants and Milwaukee, which was the blue and white, and then back to black and orange.

"Me and my wife made a joke about it the other day. But I love it here, man. Everyone's cool and it's been an easy, smooth transition so far."

The altitude alone makes him happy to be away from the Brewers organization. He played in 51 games at their Triple-A affiliate in Colorado Springs, batted .205/.307/.404 and kept coming down with debilitating headaches.

"Colorado Springs is no joke, man," he said. "It's a different ballgame over there. I don't know what it was, but I couldn't get ... You know how minor league travel is. You're stopping and going and you come into town and it's three days and I just never got acclimated.

"The headaches were killing me and I didn't know what was going on, so that's frustrating, especially when it's something you can't control, but it is what it is. I'm not an excuse-maker or anything like that, so I just put that in the past and get it going again."

Medication and an oxygen tank proved to be the most effective remedies.

"The doctor seemed to think it was oxygen to the brain or something like that was affecting my functions, so they gave me that," he said. "It was kind of embarrassing. I had to wheel around an oxygen tank kind of like an old person."

Susac turns 28 in March and he used to rank as the top prospect in the Giants system. He's a career .250/.349/.423 hitter in six minor league seasons and owns a .232/.299/.396 slash line in the majors.

The backup is judged mostly on his work behind the plate, as Susac will learn while competing against Chance Sisco and Austin Wynns. Only one of them has a World Series ring, which Susac claimed with the Giants.

"I like competition, coming in here and getting a shot to show yourself," he said. "Struggled a little bit in Milwaukee to find my groove. Whether it was injuries, just never really got my feet under me. It's nice to have a clean slate and start fresh here.

"I think the tools are there. I think I'm a good catcher. I think I know how to call a good game. I have some experience, whether it's through playoff baseball. I've been in some high-pressure situations where I've done well.

"As far as my swing goes, I've made a lot of adjustments this offseason trying to get back to who I was in the prior years and get back to what got me to the big leagues. I just think leadership in not a very vocal way. I'm not a very vocal leader, but I like to be the coordinator on the field. Most catchers would probably say the same thing. There's no other position I'd rather play than catcher. Everything else is boring to me. It's nice to get that perspective from back there because nobody else does."

With 35 pitchers in camp and a few starters expected to arrive later, Susac will need a crash course to familiarize himself with everyone. Nametags might be a good idea.

"It's been good," he said. "I got here, shoot, I think (eight) days ago, so I got to meet some of the guys. (Kevin) Gausman, (Mike) Wright, some of these guys. That's the hardest thing about getting traded as a catcher. You've got 35 new guys you've got to learn and you've got to learn them fast because games are a couple weeks away and pretty soon we're going to be in the fire.

"As much as you can, be around these guys and start to learn their characteristics out there. That's the main part about catching and the other stuff just comes along and you've got to do what you've got to do."

* Orioles manager Buck Showalter says the club has three open spots in the bullpen. If he carries seven relievers as expected, he's breaking camp with Brad Brach, Darren O'Day, Mychal Givens and left-hander Richard Bleier.

The club could bring in another left-handed reliever to compete with Donnie Hart, Joely Rodríguez, Josh Edgin and Andrew Faulkner, among others. The Orioles intend to put Tanner Scott in Triple-A Norfolk's rotation.

Showalter mentioned the three open spots yesterday on "MASN All Access" when I asked whether he's considered how many Rule 5 picks could stick with the club. The Orioles really like Nestor Cortes Jr. and right-handers José Mesa and Pedro Araujo. Mesa will be used as a starter in camp.

Outfielder Anthony Santander counts as another Rule 5 pick for the first 44 days of the regular season.

* Hall of Famer Frank Robinson will spend a week at camp.

"He's going to be with us a lot more this year helping and we're really excited about Frank coming in and being a part of everything," Showalter said.

* First baseman David Washington, who made his major league debut with the Orioles last summer and went 0-for-6 with five strikeouts, signed with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League.