Nats Trade Kurt Suzuki Back To A’s For Dakota Bacus

Early this morning, the Nationals traded C Kurt Suzuki back to the Athletics for a pitching prospect. Multiple online sources are reporting that prospect is RHP Dakota Bacus.

Bacus was the 9th-round pick for Oakland in the 2012 draft out of Indiana State University where he had posted a 7-4 record in 17 appearances (16 starts) with pitcher’s line of 2.70/3.17/1.16 after transferring from Southeastern C.C. (Iowa). He set the ISU single-season record in 2012 for innings pitched, including three complete games.

The 22-year-old Illinoisan went 3-0 with 7 saves in 30 innings last summer in the Arizona League. This season he’s gone 9-5 with a 3.56/3.42/1.34 line for the Low-A Beloit Snappers.

Scouting reports, as you might imagine, are sparse. In his 2013 Prospect Book, John Sickels cited Bacus’s “exceptional command of a low-90s fastball, slider, and changeup” but was hesitant to give him more than a Grade C due to his age and level of competition. Sickels also noted Bacus has enough of an arsenal to start but (the usual caveat) could move up the ladder faster as a reliever.

No word yet, obviously, as to if, when and/or where he’ll appear for the Nationals farm, though the most likely destination would be Hagerstown.