FORT MYERS, Fla. — Boston sports teams caused new Red Sox catcher Blake Sabol some heartbreak during his childhood. And Sabol made sure to let game-planning and run prevention coach Jason Varitek know it.
The 27-year-old lived approximately 20 minutes from Angel Stadium. He felt disappointment as a 9-year-old — and again as a 10-year-old — when Boston beat the Angels in the ALDS both in 2007 and ‘08.
“I was talking with Tek the other day. I was like, ‘Every year we’d win the West and the Red Sox would kick the Angels’ butt in the playoffs.’ Josh Beckett and all those guys.’ I was like, ‘I hated you, Tek,’” Sabol said, laughing here Monday at JetBlue Park.
Tom Brady and the Patriots also were Sabol’s enemy because he grew up a Steelers fan. His second cousin is NFL Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu, who starred for Pittsburgh from 2003-14.
Sabol remembers celebrating when Steelers wide receiver Jesse James caught what looked like a go-ahead touchdown with 28 seconds remaining against the Patriots in Week 15 of the 2017 NFL season. It initially was ruled a touchdown but the call got overturned because the ball hit the ground. New England won 27-24.
“I had already done my victory lap,” Sabol said. “The announcers were like, ‘They’re not going to overturn it.‘ And they overturned it.”
Sabol said his best friend back home has family from Massachusetts and they are big Patriots fans.
“It was just all of them dumping on me,” Sabol joked.
Eight years later, he’s playing for the city that caused him disappointment multiple times growing up.
The Red Sox acquired the 27-year-old Sabol from the Giants on Jan. 15 for international bonus pool space. Sabol is competing with Carlos Narváez and Seby Zavala for the No. 2 catcher job behind Connor Wong. Both Narváez and Sabol are on the 40-man roster. Boston signed Zavala to a minor league free agent contract.
“It’s really cool to be a part of this now,” Sabol said.
“He’s a great guy,” Sabol added about Varitek. “He’s one of the few people who wore a ‘C’ on his chest. That’s really special. Not many people have had that honor, especially for this type of organization.”
Sabol appeared in 121 games for San Francisco in 2023, ’24 combined. He posted a .243/.313/.392/.705 line with 13 homers, 12 doubles and 45 RBIs in 382 plate appearances.
He is excited to work with Varitek and also reunite with Andrew Bailey, Jarren Duran and Patrick Sandoval.
Bailey, Boston’s pitching coach, served as Giants pitching coach during Sabol’s rookie season in 2023. Sabol said Bailey was one of the coaches in San Francisco who did a good job of teaching him how to go about watching video, how to handle a pitching staff, how to build relationships with pitchers and how to get the most out of bullpen sessions.
Sabol played against Sandoval in high school and played with Duran on the 2017 Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League.
Sabol said about the 2017 version of Duran, “A little skinnier but still a gym rat. I didn’t have a car in Wareham. So he’d pick me and my roommate up sometimes just to go to the gym. It’s shocking — Jarren Duran wanted to pick me up to go to the gym. He was electrifying back then. Really fast, really good bat-to-ball and just a really good teammate.”
The Giants designated Sabol for assignment Jan. 11 to make room for free agent signee Justin Verlander. The front office told him to prepare to be traded because there was interest in him around the league. Boston acquired him four days later.
Framing pitches is one of his strengths.
“It was a big deal with the San Francisco Giants,” Sabol said. “I had some good coaches over there.”
He also spent time with future Hall of Famer Buster Posey in San Francisco.
Posey, who retired in 2021 after spending his entire 12-year-career with San Francisco, joined the Giants ownership group in September 2022. He now serves as their president of baseball operations.
Sabol was aware that Posey broke into the big leagues at just 22. So when they talked for the first time over the phone, Sabol asked Posey how he gained the respect of his veteran teammates as such a young rookie.
The conversation happened after the Giants acquired Sabol, a 2019 Pirates seventh-round draft pick out of USC, in a trade with the Reds.
Cincinnati had selected Sabol in the 2022 Rule 5 Draft, then traded him to San Francisco less than two hours later.
“Before he even answered my question (Posey) was like, ‘How old are you?” Sabol recalled about their phone call.
“25,” Sabol replied.
“You’re not young any more,” Posey told him.
“Sorry I didn’t make it up by (22) like he did,‘” Sabol joked. “And then he went into the importance of just that pitcher/catcher relationship and being genuine. I think a strength of mine is when my pitchers have a good game, I have a good game and I’m just as happy as they are. If they get lit up and they’re pissed, I’m just as mad and pissed off as they are.”
Sabol’s versatility should help him as he competes for the backup catcher job. He played 43 games in left field in addition to 55 games at catcher during his Rule 5 rookie year.
“In San Francisco, I got to do a little bit of everything,” Sabol said. “They even used me as a pinch runner to steal some bases sometimes.”
Sabol has unusual speed for a catcher. He stole 43 stolen bases in 126 games in high school, according to his USC profile.
Sabol was fourth in steals on the 2017 Wareham Gatemen with seven stolen bases in 34 games.
Duran finished second on Wareham with 10 steals in 34 games and Steven Kwan was third with eight steals in 26 games.
“(Duran) was still faster than me, for sure,” Sabol said. “But a lot of guys see a big 6-4 catcher and I’ll get to first base and sometimes people fall asleep a little bit. I can get some bags that way. But I take big pride in making the right reads and going first to third on like a base hit up the middle. Or going second to home to score. I think that’s one of the things that separates me as a player — defensive versatility and … also being able to run, hit for power, stuff like that.”
His speed led to him switching from catcher to outfield late in college.
“Back in high school and even college, I was probably 30 pounds (lighter),” Sabol said. “Skin and bones but I could move really well. That’s actually why I got drafted as an outfielder.”
Sabol initially caught in college but major league scouts told him after his second year in the Cape Cod League that they valued his speed and viewed him as a potential outfielder.
“So I asked my USC coach, ‘Hey, can I just get a year under my belt to learn it (outfield)?’” Sabol said. “Kind of went that direction then. But after COVID in 2021, the Pirates were looking for catchers. They were thin at the position that year. And I walked up to the farm director and I was like, ‘I used to catch through college. I’d love to throw my hat into the ring.‘”
Sabol’s willingness to catch surprised the Pirates’ farm director.
“You’re the first person who’s ever volunteered to catch,” Sabol recalled the farm director responding. “I love catching. So that honestly changed the trajectory of my career.”
Sabol is a left-handed hitting catcher. Both Zavala and Narváez are right-handed. Being a left-handed hitter might give Sabol an edge in the catcher competition. A left-handed hitter would better complement Wong, a right-handed hitter.
He showed some power in San Francisco. He belted 13 homers in 344 plate appearances (110 games) as a rookie.
“I know I have pretty decent bat speed,” Sabol said. “But I’m just trying to hit the ball hard up the middle, stay with the big part of the field if I catch it out in front. Hopefully, I can go pull-side but I try not to pull it for a homer or anything. I’m just trying to go with the pitch, stay through the middle. I know I have the power to go backside if I catch it right.”
Sabol had a .259/.319/.444/.763 slash line with 10 homers, eight doubles and 34 RBIs in 67 games (227 plate appearances) during the first half of his rookie season. His stats dropped when he played less (117 plate appearances) during the second half.
“Patrick Bailey came up and he does what Patty does. He’s a Gold Glove catcher,” Sabol said. “So my playing time went down a little bit in the second half. A lot of my at-bats second half were more pinch hitting, which is great to have that experience, too, because I might be doing that a little bit here if I’m on the roster. … I walk a lot. The biggest thing for me is to get on base and do my job whatever the situation is.”
SECOND COUSIN OF AN NFL HALL OF FAMER
Sabol’s mom used to babysit Polamalu.
“My mom was a Steelers fan because of Troy and then obviously when I was young, they won a Super Bowl pretty early against the Seahawks,” Sabol said. “I was like, ‘That’s all I needed to see. I’m planting my flag as a Steelers fan.’ I’ve been ride or die with them. I haven’t missed a Steelers game in years. They keep getting to the playoffs. We just gotta get over that hump.”
Sabol added, “Brady stole some (wins from) of our best rosters with Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown.”
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