Kurt Suzuki
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Kurt Kiyoshi Suzuki (born October 4, 1983 in Wailuki, Hawaii) is a minor-league catcher in the Oakland Athletics organization. The Athletics drafted him in the second round of the 2004 June amateur draft and assigned to the Single A-Vancouver Canadians, where he batted .297 and committed just one error in 46 games.
He is considered a catcher with a good Batting Average, a great On-Base Percentage, and some power and good speed for a catcher. His fielding abilities are good, making him a potentially great all around catcher.
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[edit] College Career
He played collegiately at Cal State Fullerton, where he was a teammate of pitcher Jason Windsor, also a 2004 A's draftee. Cal State Fullerton captured the 2004 College World Series championship, thanks to Suzuki's two-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving the Titans a 3-2 win over the Texas Longhorns (whose closer, Huston Street, was also drafted by the A's in 2004).
That same year, he won the Johnny Bench Award as the country's top collegiate catcher in 2004. Was also selected All-American by two publications, Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball.
[edit] Professional Career
His first full season of professional baseball came in 2005, with another Single A team, the Stockton Ports. Playing in 114 games, Suzuki put up a .277 average, 12 homeruns, 65 RBIs and a .440 slugging percentage.
Moving up to the Midland RockHounds (AA) in 2006, Suzuki batted .285 with a .392 OBP.
He is expected to be called up to play for the A's in 2008, or even as early as midseason to September 2007. The A's are expected not to re-sign starting catcher Jason Kendall after the 2007 season, so Suzuki could be the A's starting catcher in 2008.
[edit] Bibliography
2005 Oakland Athletics Media Guide. Pg. 374. Produced by the Oakland Athletics Public Relations Department.
2006 Oakland Athletics Media Guide. Pg. 215. Produced by the Oakland Athletics Public Relations Department.
