The second string catcher battle heats up.
Who is he, and where does he come from?
He is Blake Sabol, a seventh-round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2019 who attended the University of Southern California. He comes to the Red Sox by way of the San Francisco Giants, with whom he saw major league time in 2023 and 2024, in exchange for international bonus pool space. Sabol has split time between catcher and left field during his time in the majors.
Is he any good?
Using the baseline of backup catcher to define “good”, Sabol has some positive traits with the bat. While he spent most of 2024 in the minor leagues, Sabol hit 13 home runs with 44 RBI in 2023 with the Giants, slashing .235/.301/.394 which isn’t bad at all. It did come with a 34% K-rate, and his contact% of 65.8% was 11th worst in baseball (of 293 hitters with 300+ plate appearances). He also stole four bags that year, and had 11 steals at Triple-A in 2024, despite a 30 speed grade on Fangraphs. Last year, in a limited 11-game sample, Sabol’s plate discipline was better, with a 13.2/23.7% BB:K ratio.
You can live with that at the plate from a backup catcher, assuming that he can handle the responsibilities defensively. Considering the bar to clear is Reese McGuire and Danny Jansen, Sabol’s profile with the bat is fine, provided that he stays out of the Dollar Tree parking lot. Unfortunately, Sabol’s defense leaves something to be desired. He was passable in the outfield, with -1 OAA but it doesn’t seem like he’s being acquired to play in the outfield. As a catcher, Sabol is 7-for-55 (13%) in throwing out runners at the major league level. On Statcast, his framing and throwing grades are middle of the pack, but his pop time and blocking skills are poor. In 2023, Sabol was dead last of 68 qualified catchers in blocking.
Baseball Savant
I wonder if the Red Sox could consider hiring Austin Schultz to work on some catching drills with Sabol.
TL;DR, just give me his stats:
2023: 110 G, 344 PA, .235/.301/.394, 13 HR, 44 RBI, 36 R, 4/6 SB, 7.0 BB%, 34.0 K%, 91 wRC+
2024: 11 G, 38 PA, .313/.421/.375, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 3 R, 0/0 SB, 13.2 BB%, 23.7 K%, 129 wRC+
Show me a cool highlight:
Can’t beat a walk-off home run off a stud closer to go from down one run, to a one-run win. And a perfect “Outttaaaa heeeeeere” home run call from Duane Kuiper, as always.
Side note: This may be a hot take, but the Giants have the best announcing tandem in MLB. Kuiper has been announcing for the club since 1986, Mike Krukow since 1990. Both of them played in the league (a rarity for a play-by-play guy, Kuiper) and offer great historical tidbits while calling the game flawlessly. If you need a West Coast or National League MLB TV team in 2025 after the Sox game ends, may I suggest the Giants?
What is his role on the 2025 Red Sox?
He will likely be competing with Carlos Narvaez for the backup catcher spot to the right-hand hitting Connor Wong, as both Sabol and Narvaez are on the 40-man roster and have two minor league option years remaining. It’s hard to envision Sabol getting much time in the outfield on this roster. Sabol hits left-handed, Narvaez right-handed. Sabol is 27 years old with 382 career plate appearances, and Narvaez 26 years old with 15 career plate appearances. Which leads to the question of what, exactly, the Sox long-term plan at catcher is. . .