No. 3 prospect Susac called as Sanchez hits DL

SAN FRANCISCO -- Friday was a roller-coaster day for road roomies Nick Noonan and Andrew Susac. Shortly after sunrise in El Paso, where Triple-A Fresno was in town to play the Padres' affiliate, Noonan was designated for assignment to create room on the Giants' 40-man roster. After sundown, Susac got a call from assistant general manager Bobby Evans. He'd been called up to the Majors for the first time.

"Lot of emotions in that room yesterday," a stoked Susac said inside the Giants' clubhouse on Saturday.

Susac, ranked by MLB.com as the Giants' No. 3 prospect, is hitting .268/.379/.451 with 10 home runs and 32 RBIs in 63 games with Fresno this season. He was promoted after catcher Hector Sanchez was placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list on Saturday; a foul tip to the mask forced him to leave the Giants' 8-1 loss to the Dodgers on Friday night. Manager Bruce Bochy said Saturday he anticipates Sanchez needing a few more than just seven days to fully recover.

Coincidentally, Susac's season was derailed for a couple of weeks by a similar foul tip. He said he had trouble initially passing concussion tests, and when he returned 13 days later he pulled a hamstring.

"I had some brutal luck," Susac said. "Two days ago, I got hit in the hand. I've had a target on my back as far as injuries, but I'm healthy, I'm 100 percent. Hopefully it stays that way."

A Roseville native, Susac grew up as a Giants fan. He attended games at both Candlestick and AT&T Park, so his first trip to the ballpark as a player was extra special.

"It's pretty cool, man," Susac said. "I kind of just stepped back and looked at it all when I got here … It was an awesome feeling."

He's not a complete stranger in his new surroundings, which he said should help accelerate his assimilation. He's played with the pros in Spring Training and progressed through the organization at a nearly identical pace to fellow recent callups Adam Duvall and Joe Panik, who was his Triple-A roommate before a June promotion.

"Just the fact that they know my name is an easy thing," Susac said. "I don't have to introduce myself over and over."

Bochy plans for Susac to start once a week.