Red Sox trade for catcher Blake Sabol. Meet the new guy.

Who’s he, and the place does he come from?

He’s Blake Sabol, a seventh-round choose of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2019 who attended the College of Southern California. He involves the Red Sox by means of the San Francisco Giants, with whom he noticed main league time in 2023 and 2024, in alternate for worldwide bonus pool house. Sabol has cut up time between catcher and left area throughout his time within the majors.

Is he any good?

Utilizing the baseline of backup catcher to outline “good”, Sabol has some constructive traits with the bat. Whereas he spent most of 2024 within the minor leagues, Sabol hit 13 dwelling runs with 44 RBI in 2023 with the Giants, slashing .235/.301/.394 which isn’t unhealthy in any respect. It did include a 34% Okay-rate, and his contact% of 65.8% was 11^th worst in baseball (of 293 hitters with 300+ plate appearances). He additionally stole 4 baggage that yr, and had 11 steals at Triple-A in 2024, regardless of a 30 pace grade on Fangraphs. Final yr, in a restricted 11-game pattern, Sabol’s plate self-discipline was higher, with a 13.2/23.7% BB:Okay ratio.

You’ll be able to stay with that on the plate from a backup catcher, assuming that he can deal with the tasks defensively. Contemplating the bar to clear is Reese McGuire and Danny Jansen, Sabol’s profile with the bat is ok, supplied that he stays out of the Greenback Tree car parking zone. Sadly, Sabol’s protection leaves one thing to be desired. He was satisfactory within the outfield, with -1 OAA however it doesn’t look like he’s being acquired to play within the outfield. As a catcher, Sabol is 7-for-55 (13%) in throwing out runners on the main league stage. On Statcast, his framing and throwing grades are center of the pack, however his pop time and blocking expertise are poor. In 2023, Sabol was useless final of 68 certified catchers in blocking.

Baseball Savant

I ponder if the Pink Sox might think about hiring Austin Schultz to work on some catching drills with Sabol.

TL;DR, simply 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 Okay%, 91 wRC+

2024: 11 G, 38 PA, .313/.421/.375, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 3 R, 0/0 SB, 13.2 BB%, 23.7 Okay%, 129 wRC+

Present me a cool spotlight:

Can’t beat a walk-off dwelling run off a stud nearer to go from down one run, to a one-run win. And an ideal “Outttaaaa heeeeeere” dwelling run name from Duane Kuiper, as at all times.

Facet be aware: This can be a scorching take, however the Giants have the very best saying tandem in MLB. Kuiper has been saying for the membership since 1986, Mike Krukow since 1990. Each of them performed within the league (a rarity for a play-by-play man, Kuiper) and provide nice historic tidbits whereas calling the sport flawlessly. If you happen to want a West Coast or Nationwide League MLB TV workforce in 2025 after the Sox sport ends, could I counsel the Giants?

What’s his function on the 2025 Pink Sox?

He’ll doubtless be competing with Carlos Narvaez for the backup catcher spot to the right-hand hitting Connor Wong, as each Sabol and Narvaez are on the 40-man roster and have two minor league choice years remaining. It’s exhausting to ascertain Sabol getting a lot time within the outfield on this roster. Sabol hits left-handed, Narvaez right-handed. Sabol is 27 years outdated with 382 profession plate appearances, and Narvaez 26 years outdated with 15 profession plate appearances. Which ends up in the query of what, exactly, the Sox long-term plan at catcher is. . .