Aaron Chase Sabato (born June 4, 1999) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

in the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

organization. He was selected 27th overall by the Twins in the

2020 Major League Baseball draft The 2020 Major League Baseball draft took place on June 10 and 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2019 MLB season standings. In ad ...

Amateur career

Sabato grew up in

Rye Brook, New York Rye Brook is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States, within the administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Rye (town), New Yo ...

and attended the

Brunswick School Brunswick School is a private, college-preparatory school for boys in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1902 by George B. Carmichael. History Brunswick School was founded in 1902 by George B. Carmichael. The school is ...

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

, where he was a four-year starter on the school's baseball team. As a junior he batted .444 with nine home runs, 20 RBI and 20 runs scored. As a senior, he batted .560 with 14 home runs in 22 games and was named first team All-Connecticut. After graduating, Sabato enrolled at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

where he played college baseball. As a true freshman, Sabato led the Tar Heels with a .343 batting average and with 79 hits, 25 doubles and 63 RBIs while setting a UNC freshman record with 18 home runs. He was named the National Freshman Hitter of the Year by the

National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) is an association of baseball writers, broadcasters, and publicists in the United States. It was founded in 1962. The NCBWA compiles a preseason ranking of the top 30 teams in the n ...

and the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC) Freshman of the Year, as well as first team All-ACC and as a first team All-American by the

American Baseball Coaches Association The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) is the world's largest Amateur baseball in the United States, amateur baseball Manager (baseball), coaching organization. It was founded in 1945 as the American Association of College Baseball Coach ...

and a third team All-American by ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

''. Sabato entered his sophomore season on the watchlist for the

Golden Spikes Award The Golden Spikes Award is bestowed annually to the best amateur baseball player in the United States. The award, created by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association, was first presented in 1978. It is given to ...

and was named a first team preseason All-American by ''Baseball America'', Perfect Game and the ''

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper ''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' (also known as ''Collegiate Baseball Magazine'' and ''Collegiate Baseball'') was an American publication based in Arizona that considered itself the "voice of amateur baseball" and was published for over 40 yea ...

''. Sabato batted .292 with six doubles, seven home runs and 18 RBIs with 22 walks before the season was cut short due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Professional career

Sabato was selected 27th overall by the

in the

. Sabato signed with the Twins for a $2.75 million bonus. He did not appear for the organization in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Sabato made his professional debut in 2021 with the

Fort Myers Mighty Mussels The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Fort Myers, Florida, and play their home games at the Lee County Sports Complex at H ...

of the

Low-A Southeast The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

and was promoted to the

Cedar Rapids Kernels The Cedar Rapids Kernels are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and play their home games at Veterans Memorial Stadium (Cedar Rapids), Veter ...

of the

High-A Central The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizati ...

during the season. Over 107 games between the two teams, he slashed .202/.373/.410 with 19 home runs and 57 RBI. He registered a 32.1% strikeout rate alongside a 19.8% walk rate. Sabato returned to Cedar Rapids to begin the 2022 season. He batted .226 with 17 home runs and 57 RBI in 80 games with the team before being promoted to the Double-A

Wichita Wind Surge The Wichita Wind Surge are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Wichita, Kansas, and began play in 2021 at Equity Bank Park. The Wind Surge were supposed to be ...

Personal

Sabato's older brother, Teddy, played college baseball at UNC before transferring to

Manhattan College Manhattan University (previously Manhattan College) is a private, Catholic university in New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the De La Salle Christian Brothers (Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools) as an academy fo ...

. His father, Ted, is a police officer who played baseball at Mercy College.

References

External links

North Carolina Tar Heels bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabato, Aaron 1999 births Living people Baseball first basemen North Carolina Tar Heels baseball players People from Rye Brook, New York Baseball players from Westchester County, New York Cedar Rapids Kernels players Wichita Wind Surge players 21st-century American sportsmen Fort Myers Mighty Mussels players Glendale Desert Dogs players