Suzuki may be right guy for Angels

Catcher won’t be the starter, but he could help one of worst rotations in baseball.

Kurt Suzuki is not the type of catcher who will regularly steal strikes on the edges of the zone, saving his pitchers a few extra throws a night. He is not the young backstop who will block an errant pitch and, on the same play, heroically throw out a runner on the basepaths.

Yet, he might be the right fit for the Angels in 2021.

Suzuki, 37, signed a oneyear, $1.5-million deal last week to become the Angels’ backup catcher, roughly a month after the team narrowly missed adding freeagent James McCann. He is seven years younger than Suzuki and considered a better framer, according to advanced statistics. McCann is spry enough to play nearly every day, meaning he could have provided a consistent boost to an Angels lineup that last season ranked ninth in MLB in runs (294).

But Suzuki, a native of Hawaii and 2004 product of Cal State Fullerton, isn’t a consolation prize. The veteran has been heralded for his game-calling and defense throughout his 14-year career. The Angels’ starting rotation — which last season produced a ghastly 5.52 ERA, the second-highest mark in baseball — could stand to benefit from throwing to the catcher whom Max Scherzer, one of the sport’s most dominant pitchers, called “hands-down, one of the best catchers I’ve ever thrown to.”

“I think that, without running me into the ground, I can help the team,” Suzuki said Thursday in a videoconference. “I feel like I’m at this stage in my career, even if I’m older, I feel like I got a lot left in the tank to help the team win.”

Familiarity, as well the opportunity to live at his permanent home in Redondo Beach with his wife and three schoolaged children, made Suzuki comfortable signing with the Angels for a lower price than other teams were offering.

Accepting a reduced role and drastically cut paycheck didn’t faze Suzuki.

Other teams offered him a starting role. The Angels proposed to deploy Suzuki behind the plate two to three times a week, with Max Stassi getting most of the other starts once he has fully recovered from hip surgery he had in October.

Suzuki figures that should be just enough playing time for him to leave a mark on Angels pitchers.

“They’re great as it is right now and I feel like they can become better,” Suzuki said. “I love to be a part of the [careers of] young pitchers that have a lot of potential and see if I can help them out any way possible to potentially get better. If it’s just one thing, I feel like I’ve done my job.”