Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects 2022 Outlook: Blake Sabol

An overlooked prospect in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system that could be in line for a big season in 2022 is catcher/outfielder Blake Sabol

It has been well documented that the Pittsburgh Pirates have one of the best, deepest farm systems in all of baseball. While fans know about plenty of the highly touted prospects in the Pirate farm system there are plenty of productive prospects who get overlooked.

One of these overlooked prospects is Blake Sabol. The let-handed hitting Sabol can catcher and play the outfield. While he has always put up above league average offensive numbers in his professional career he often times gets overlooked among Pirate prospects.

Sabol spent the majority of the 2021 season with the High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers where he posted strong numbers. In 229 plate appearances with the Grasshoppers he hit for a .296/.380/.553 slash line. He posted a 145 wRC+, .256 isolated slugging (ISO), hit 11 home runs, and walked at an 11.8% clip.

Prior to joining the Grasshoppers, Sabol started the season with Low-A Bradenton. With the Marauders he hits for a .370/.508/.543 slash line to go with a 192 wRC+ in 59 PAs. He walked at a 20.3% clip and had an ISO of .174.

Last season Sabol played three positions. He logged 237.2 innings as a catcher, 103 innings in left field and 6 innings in right field. While catcher remained his primary positions, Sabol did flash positional flexibility last season.

Looking ahead to 2022 Sabol should start the season with Double-A Altoona. With both Henry Davis and Endy Rodriguez likely to spend time with Altoona this season Sabol could find himself playing an utility role for the Curve.

If Sabol can build off of his offensive success from 2021 in 2022 it should put him in position to climb as a prospect. Currently FanGraphs gives Sabol a future value of just 35+. His best tool raw power with a FV of 50, while his hit tool is just 30.

Throughout his minor league career Sabol has struggled with the swing-and-miss. He struck out at a 31.8% rate for Greensboro last season. Prior to that his strikeout rate at Low-A was 20.3% and his strikeout rate was over 24% with Low-A in 2019.

Improving his contact will be a big goal for Sabol in 2022. If he is able to do so then Sabol should produce offensively for Altoona on his way to continuing to climb the Pirate farm system. Sabol will be a Pirate prospect that fans should keep an eye on in 2022.