LOS ANGELES — As Kurt Suzuki and the Los Angeles Angels narrow down the final days of Spring Training, the first-year manager is filled with emotions ahead of making his MLB debut as a manager.
For Suzuki, those emotions were narrowed down to two. Excitement and anxiousness.
Suzuki understands the long grind of playing in an MLB season, as he is a former 16-year catcher who was an All-Star in 2014 and was part of a Washington Nationals team that won a World Series in 2019.
But now, he is faced with a new challenge and opportunity.
Being a first-time manager.
"I said this when I was a player. 'Whether you're in year one, five, or 15, that opening day, that start to the season, you definitely have a little bit of anxiety going into the game, not knowing the thought of the unknown," Suzuki said.
After Suzuki played his final game in 2022, while wearing an Angels uniform, he made the transition from the field to the Angels front office, serving as a special assistant to general manager Perry Minasian.
This past October, it was announced that Suzuki would be returning to the dugout, this time as a manager after the Angels hired him to be the club's 24th manager in franchise history.
On Thursday, he will officially begin this new journey as a manager in the big leagues when the Angels open their season on the road against the Houston Astros.
Despite having zero managerial experience, Suzuki's been described as a "Natural" by Angels bench Coach John Gibbons.
Gibbons is a long-time coach and two-time former manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, serving from 2002 to 2004 and again from 2013 to 2018.
"Obviously, the season hasn't started yet. I understand the grind of the season. I understand there's gonna be ups, I understand there's gonna be downs," Suzuki said. "I talk to (John Gibbons), we talk every day. You know I talk to him, and he goes, 'Hey, you're a natural."
Understanding the grind of a 162-game season and leaning heavily on his coaching staff is what Suzuki will need to do if he wants to help the Angels reach the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
"Things aren't gonna be easy all the time," Suzuki said. "We have to get through these, the tough days, and find ways through them, and I believe that. I think as a player, playing as long as I did, not being a great player when I did, and enduring a lot of rough stretches, that I feel like helped me for this moment."
Aside from relying on help from Gibbons, the Angels' coaching staff is filled with experience. Suzuki has one of the best pitching coaches in the game, Mike Maddux, by his side.
Maddux spent the last three seasons as the pitching coach of the Texas Rangers before arriving at the Angels. He was part of a Texas Rangers team that won a World Series for the first time in Franchise history in 2023.
He was also the same coach who helped Jacob deGrom get back to form and win the AL Comeback Player of the Year after posting a 12-8 record and 2.97 ERA last season.
Suzuki's staff will also feature two former managers in the Angels minor league system that players are already all familiar with, in Andy Schatzley and Keith Johnson.
Schatzley managed their double-A affiliate, the Rocket City Trash Pandas, from 2021-2025, and Johnson managed their triple-A affiliate, the Salt Lake Bees, from 2023-2025.
The coaching staff will also have a handful of former players that will bring in youth to the coaching staff, including his former Nationals teammate, Adam Eaton, and Max Stassi who he shared catching duties when they were Angels teammates from 2021-2022.
The mix of youth and experience on the coaching staff should not only benefit Suzuki, but the roster as a whole, as he will have coaches who have been in the moment and will be able to guide him, while also having coaches who understand the grind of the baseball season.
Angels right-handed pitcher Reid Detmers was just a rookie when Suzuki signed with the Angels in 2021. In Suzuki's final year before retiring in 2022, Detmers had one of the best seasons in his career when he started in 25 games and had a 3.77 ERA and 122 strikeouts.
Now with his former catcher stepping in as the skipper of the team, Detmers said it's been different but awesome having Suzuki as the manager of the team.
"I have nothing but good things to say. He’s been super easy to work with, easy to talk to obviously," Detmers said. "It’s kind of not weird, but I’d say a cool perspective though. Being able to play with him for a couple of years and then now seeing him in the role he has now, it’s awesome to watch.”
In his four-year career, Detmers has been through plenty of ups, like throwing his first career no-hitter as a rookie in 2022, to plenty of downs, like when he was removed from his role as a starting pitcher and was moved to the bullpen.
16 years in the big leagues, Suzuki has been through his fair share of ups and downs like Detmers, and it's something players can relate to him about.
Detmers praised Suzuki for being around and being easy to talk to.
“I mean, he’s always around. He was always around when he wasn’t playing. Everybody knows him, easy to talk to," Detmers said. "He definitely relates to the players because of what he was doing three, four years ago, whatever it was. He’s great.”
While it will be a mystery to know what the Angels will look like right now, one thing is certain: there is a belief that this team can turn it around with Suzuki leading the charge.
"At the end of the day, trust your gut," Suzuki said. "I've got a great group of coaching staff around me, great guys, great baseball guys."