Blake

Sabol

Sabol spent time last year with both the White Sox and Red Sox. He hit .216/.326/.378 in 86 plate appearances for Triple-A Charlotte and has a career .237/.307/.383 MLB slash line in 400 plate appearances. When he got a shot with the Red Sox last season, teams ran all over him, so Tampa Bay likely hopes he remains as organizational catching depth.

Sabol hit .216/.326/.378 in 86 plate appearances for Triple-A Charlotte after being acquired from the Red Sox at midseason. The 27-year-old has hit .237/.307/.383 in 400 major league plate appearances, most of them coming with the Giants.

There simply wasn’t a spot for Sabol anymore in Boston’s catching mix following Carlos Narváez’s emergence and Connor Wong occupying a backup role. The 27-year-old heads to Chicago as extra organizational depth behind top prospects Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero.

The 27-year-old had been designated for assignment over the weekend, but he passed through waivers unclaimed and will continue to function as extra depth behind the plate for the Red Sox. Sabol went 2-for-16 (.125) with one RBI and a 7/1 K/BB ratio in his limited action with the big league club.

Sabol loses his spot on Boston’s 40-man roster after hitting .125 over eight games earlier this season in the majors. The emergence of Carlos Narváez as one of the top catchers in the American League certainly helped make Sabol expendable when an inevitable roster crunch hit.

Sabol is heading to the minors with Connor Wong activated off the injured list. The 27-year-old will be back up if Boston needs depth behind the plate.

Organizationally, the Red Sox have seen their catching depth take a hit with Connor Wong shelved due to a broken finger. Grandal did not participate in spring training with any team, so it’s going to take him a while to ramp up before he’ll be an option to help out at the major league level. In the meantime, Carlos Narvaez and Blake Sabol will share the load behind the plate for the Red Sox.

The Red Sox are opting for Sabol’s bat over Seby Zavala’s superior glove with Connor Wong out. Sabol, 27, hit .243/.313/.392 in 382 plate appearances with the Giants the last two seasons. He’ll share time behind the plate with Carlos Narvaez for the next few weeks.

It’s a significant loss for the Red Sox pitching staff more than anything else as the bulk of the catching duties will go to Carlos Narváez with Wong heading to the injured list. The 28-year-old backstop suffered the injury when he was struck on the glove hand by George Springer’s first-inning swing during Monday’s series opener. There is no timetable for his return at the moment, but fantasy managers should expect him to miss at least a couple weeks. It’ll likely be Blake Sabol coming up from Triple-A Worcester to take his spot on Boston’s active roster.

Sabol will likely be with Triple-A Pawtucket to open the season. With the 27-year-old in the minors, Connor Wong and Carlos Narvaez will be the catchers to open the season for Boston.