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C/OF Blake Sabol
The Pittsburgh Pirates have injected their system full of catching talent. Over the past year-plus, the Pirates have added Endy Rodriguez, Henry Davis, Wyatt Hendrie, Abrahan Gutierrez, and Carter Bins to the organization. But one of the lesser talked about young backstop options is Blake Sabol.
Sabol was a seventh-round pick by the Pirates back in 2019. Sabol showed some talent at the dish in 2019 but took off this past season. He collected 288 plate appearances between Bradenton and Greensboro, yielding a .310/.406/.551 line, .418 wOBA, and 155 wRC+. Among Pirates’ minor league backstops with at least 100 PA’s, he led them all in OPS, wOBA, wRC+, BA, and SLG.
However, there were some red flags to Wilson’s season. The first thing is while he walked at a phenomenal 13.5% rate, he also struck out nearly 30% of the time. His 29.2% strikeout rate was second to just Arden Pabst. His season was also fueled by a .420 batting average on balls in play. His batted ball rates weren’t awful as he had a 21.4% line drive rate and 39.3% fly ball rate.
Sabol doesn’t have a defined position. Although FanGraphs states that he has a shot to be a viable defender as a backstop, he’s seen time at both corner outfield positions as well. Sabol is more raw power than anything. He’s a big kid who stands at 6’4″, 215.
Sabol comes with a lot of risk, given his big frame for a backstop. He’s a projected late-bloomer and is already 24-years-old. Sabol could end up as a solid backup with power while seeing time at first and the corner outfield spots.