WEST SACRAMENTO – The Giants concluded that the upside for Daniel Susac is greater than the status quo of Patrick Bailey, regardless of the back-to-back Gold Glove seasons.

Which explains why Bailey’s now in Cleveland and Susac’s now getting an opportunity to become the Giants’ No. 1 catcher.

Clearly, it helps to be able to handle a bat, a la Susac. The Giants’ powers that be, notably the man at the top, Buster Posey, who knows a bit about catching, preferred a catcher who could hit far better than Bailey’s .146 season average or even his .223 career average while also playing above-average defense.

Potentially, that’s Susac, 25, who came off the injured list Friday and immediately was inserted into the lineup for the series opener against the former Oakland A’s, a perfect time and place for his return.

Against his old team (he’s a former A’s prospect).

At his hometown ballpark (he grew up in nearby Roseville).

On the field where he rehabbed his elbow injury (Sutter Health Park is home of the Giants’ top farm team).

“It’s definitely an interesting scenario,” Susac said. “I never thought when I was a kid going to River Cats games for birthday parties that it would be hosting big-league games.”

In the Giants’ 5-2 loss, Susac made several nifty defensive plays and crushed the ball twice but went 0-for-4 with a strikeout, his average slipping from .478 to .407. Luis Arráez hit his first homer as a Giant and finished a triple shy of a cycle, and Harrison Bader also homered, but Heliot Ramos walked off the field with right quadriceps tightness and is scheduled for an MRI on Saturday.

Ramos was hurt in the fifth inning when trying to make a sliding catch of Jeff McNeil’s shallow fly, prompting Casey Schmitt to play the outfield for the first time since his sophomore year in high school. Schmitt has been shagging flies in recent weeks, and if he makes another position change, the domino effect could mean more playing time for Bryce Eldridge.

The very next pitch, Nick Kurtz slugged a three-run homer off Tyler Mahle to give the A’s a 4-2 lead. Regardless, it was quite the reunion for Susac, who remembers attending a bunch of River Cats games as a kid including to celebrate birthdays – his and his buddies.

“I was probably in the bounce house more than watching the game,” Susac said. “Then we’d come home and play Wiffle ball games.”

To clear room for Susac, the Giants optioned infielder Christian Koss. That left three catchers on the roster: Susac, Jesús Rodríguez, and Eric Haase. From what we’ve seen of Rodríguez, a fellow rookie, Susac is far more advanced defensively. Haase, 33, is the veteran, and his two-homer game Tuesday at Dodger Stadium helped convince management he ought to stick around as a potent right-handed bat off the bench.

Manager Tony Vitello called it a “little bit of a puzzle to put together,” and asked if it’s safe to assume Susac is the No. 1 catcher, Vitello said, “No, I don’t think we’re assuming anything at this point.”

Indeed, it’s unnecessary pressure to place on someone with 12 big-league games to his name and is freshly rehabbed from an injury. It’s best for Susac to earn the starting job, and then keep earning it, but he’s certainly the favorite and the guy the Giants want handling the pitchers. Plus, a three-catcher alignment provides a different level of flexibility especially because Rodriguez and Haase are able to play other positions in a pinch.

The A’s picked Susac 19th overall in the 2022 draft but weren’t confident enough he’d succeed as a big-leaguer to protect him from December’s Rule 5 draft. So an arrangement was made for the Giants to acquire Susac from the Twins, who drafted him and immediately flipped him. Right away, the Giants penciled him in as Bailey’s primary backup.

“When they took me in the Rule 5,” Susac said, “the biggest goal of mine was to make them look right. That’s the goal every day.”

As for the opportunity to face his old team, Susac said, “Definitely some motivation.”

Friday, with dozens of family members and friends on hand, Susac smoked a pitch from starter Aaron Civale 395 feet to the warning track and another off Joel Kuhnel that was 104.7 mph off the bat, a line out.

Defensively, Susac fielded Darrell Hernáiz’s bunt up the first base line and made an impressive underhanded flip for the out, not easy for someone 6-foot-5. He made a sweet swipe tag on Hernáiz to complete a textbook 9-4-2 putout. And he gunned down Henry Bolte trying to steal second base.

Bolte was one of Susac’s teammates and roommates in the A’s farm system, a five-tool type of player with tremendous speed. Susac once told his brother, Andrew, a former Giants catcher, that Bolte could be another Bobby Witt Jr. because of his “freakish tools.”

Susac popped up from his crouch and released the ball in 1.86 seconds and threw a strike to second base at 84.7 mph, shortstop Willy Adames applying the tag. By comparison, Bailey’s average pop time this season is 1.87 seconds, and his average velocity on throws is 83.1 mph.

As a Giant, hitting hasn’t been an issue for Susac, whose average in 11 games before the injury was .478, then .528 in five games during his rehab. In the wake of Bailey’s May 9 trade to Cleveland, Susac will be getting the chance of a lifetime to follow in his footsteps, albeit with a more threatening bat.

“Patrick was huge for me,” said Susac, praising Bailey’s defense. “So to be able to watch that every day and watch his process was awesome. He was a great guy to take everything in from.”