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

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

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

2020 Major League Baseball draft The 2020 Major League Baseball First-Year Player 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 ...

Amateur career

Sabato grew up in

Rye Brook, New York Rye Brook is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States, within the town of Rye. The population was 9,347 at the 2010 census. Rye Brook has been designated as a Tree City USA for 14 years. History Rye Brook is located in sout ...

and attended the Brunswick School in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

, 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 A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

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 and the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(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 and a third team All-American by ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

''. Sabato entered his sophomore season on the watchlist for the Golden Spikes Award and was named a first team preseason All-American by ''Baseball America'', Perfect Game and the '' Collegiate Baseball Newspaper''. 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.

Professional career

Sabato was selected 27th overall by the

in the

. Sabato signed with the Twins for a $2.75 million bonus. 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 and was promoted to the Cedar Rapids Kernels of the High-A Central during the season. Over 107 games between the two teams, he slashed .202/.373/.410 with 19 home runs and 57 RBIs. 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 RBIs in 80 games with the team before being promoted to the Double-A Wichita Wind Surge.

Personal

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

Manhattan College Manhattan College is a private, Catholic, liberal arts university in the Bronx, New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle Christian Brothers) as an academy for day students, it was la ...

. 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 Baseball players from New York (state) People from Rye Brook, New York Cedar Rapids Kernels players Wichita Wind Surge players