Aaron Sabato Selected 27th Overall in 2020 MLB Draft
North Carolina first baseman Aaron Sabato was selected 27th overall in the truncated 2020 MLB Draft, which took place on June 10. The Minnesota Twins used their first pick of the draft to grab the sophomore from Rye Brook, NY. Thankfully Sabato was taken early and didn’t have to sweat out the draft, which was shortened from its usual 40-round format down to just five because of COVID-19.
In 2019, the Twins "Bomba Squad" set an MLB record for most home runs by a team by smashing 307. They’ve already added former Atlanta Brave Josh Donaldson, the Bringer of Rain, to the line-up for 2020. The power-happy Twins are clearly looking to keep the home run dominance going for years to come.
Stats
Sabato hit .292 with seven home runs and 18 RBIs in 19 games during the shortened 2020 season.
In his 2019 freshman campaign, Sabato was named Collegiate Baseball Co-National Freshman of the Year as well as making first-team All-America and Freshman All-America. The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association named Sabato the National Freshman Hitter of the Year. He was all the ACC Freshman of the Year and made first-time All-ACC.
In 2019, Sabato set the Carolina freshman record for home runs in a season (18), led the team in batting average (.343), hits (79), doubles (25), RBIs (63), and slugging percentage (.696). Mike Fox has coached Carolina for 21 seasons and Sabato’s OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 1.149 is the third highest in that span.
Coming out of high school (The Brunswick School), Sabato was ranked the no. 2 shortstop and no. 4 player in New York. He was also the 35th-ranked shortstop nationally by Perfect Game. He hit .560 his senior year.
What's Next?
The immediate future for Sabato is up in the air as Major League Baseball works to make decisions about the 2020 season. The same will be true for whatever type of minor league (or other) assignment he receives from the Twins. Prior to tonight’s draft, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred told ESPN’s Karl Ravech that he’s “100 percent” sure that "we will play baseball this season". Most recently, the MLBPA had offered a proposal, which was rejected, and the league plans to soon offer up a “responsive proposal” that will hopefully “produce reciprocal movement from the players’ association”.
Best of luck to Aaron Sabato as he starts his professional career!
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