Spring training | Pirates prospect Michael Suchy one step closer to home
If everything goes right for Michael Suchy during the next few months, he may get the call to come home.
An outfielder in the Pirates organization, the Southeast High product played his final minor-league spring training game Friday at Pirate City, going 0-for-3 against a Yankees squad.
He'll remain in Florida through the weekend for a pair of camp days, then it will be off to Charleston, W.Va., to begin the season with the Single-A West Virginia Power.
He's got an apartment all picked out now with a handful of his teammates, but if he starts off hot it may be a temporary arrangement. A shot at joining the high Single-A Bradenton Marauders sometime during 2015 is well within reach.
"It all falls on me," Suchy said. "I have to play into it."
After Suchy played three seasons at Florida Gulf Coast University, Pittsburgh selected him in the fifth round of the 2014 MLB First-Year Draft. He ended up playing 66 games with the Class A short-season Jamestown Jammers in New York and batting .236 while hitting fourth for most of the year.
Brian Esposito, Suchy's manager in Jamestown, earned a promotion this season, as well, and will manage West Virginia. In the meantime, he has been managing Suchy in Pirate City.
"He likes the work ethic of all his players and if you don't have that, then you're not gonna see much playing time," Suchy said. "So I think that we get along pretty well with how hard I work in the field."
Pittsburgh doesn't officially track stats for its minor-league spring training, but Suchy's father, Dave, who attends every game at Pirate City, said Michael started off strong before cooling off recently. His power numbers, however, have been impressive throughout camp, which has allowed him to remain in the No. 4 spot in the lineup.
Dave Suchy, who was at Friday's game with his wife, Mary Bilinovic-Suchy, and other son, Stephen, is retired, which means he can come to workouts every morning and see the live games in the afternoon.
Next week, he'll drive Michael's truck up to Charleston and catch a few games at Appalachian Power Park before coming back to Bradenton.
"It would've been great if he would've jumped another level, but it's very rare for these guys to jump two levels," he said. "He had an outside chance of making the outfield in high A."
Dave also had a chance to see Michael's first shot against major leaguers. Pittsburgh frequently brings players up from minor-league camp for a day with the big leaguers, and Suchy's opportunity came March 23 against the Tampa Bay Rays.
His dad made the drive down to Port Charlotte that day to see Suchy sub in for Starling Marte before the seventh inning in left field and fly out against relief pitcher Brad Boxberger during the ninth inning of a Pirates win at Charlotte Sports Park.
"It was pretty surreal," Michael Suchy said. "Definitely a humbling experience, being able to see where I'm at compared to where they're at and see what I have to work for."
This story was originally published April 3, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Spring training | Pirates prospect Michael Suchy one step closer to home."