St. Paul – Entering the 2025 season, Aaron Sabato was worried about his future. He’d struggled to produce a healthy season since he turned pro in 2021. Even when he was healthy, the numbers at the plate were not what you’d expect from a former first-round draft pick.
This year, Sabato’s No. 1 goal was to stay healthy and then prove he could still hit the cover off the ball like he did at the University of North Carolina. He accomplished that in 39 games at Double-A Wichita to start the year with a .305/.399/.574 slash line, nine home runs, and 26 RBI, which earned him a promotion to Triple-A on June 13.
So how would Sabato maintain what he’d done at Double-A to finish the rest of the year strong in St. Paul?
“Honestly, just been taking care of my body starting in the off-season and then really just translated into the season,” Sabato said. “I just found myself not getting fatigued or tired, and really just kind of hitting my stride and always keeping it. Like, my body has felt great every day.”
Feeling healthy every day this season allowed Sabato to set a new career high in games played at 109, 65 of which came with St. Paul from June 13 to the end of the year. Reaching Triple-A for the first time, Sabato still had a lot of big power moments, crushing 14 home runs and 41 RBI. Still, the Triple-A pitchers were able to expose some of his swing-and-miss weaknesses, leading to a 31.4% strikeout rate.
Fortunately, the slumps for Sabato have been shorter than those he’d experienced when battling through injuries. That helped produce a career-best .261/.327/.481 over 449 plate appearances this season.
“When I have struggled or had some dips, they’ve just been very short and not too long,” Sabato said. “I think over my career, they would go from like a month or two months, and they’d just start to get to me. And there would be like no production. Even in the ups and downs, I was still producing power-wise and getting on base and putting some runs on the board. I think that has been a huge thing.”
“Everyone knew that he had the ability to drive the ball and change the game with one swing and leave the yard,” said Saints hitting coach Shawn Schelcter.
“And so, for him to accomplish that this year and capitalize has allowed him to prove to the organization that he could be a valuable piece. He did a great job of answering, too, going back to Double-A for the third year this year. He just worked and wanted to make sure when he stepped on the field, he was being the best version of himself.”
The success has been a great reassurance that Sabato will not have to worry about his career ending this season. He entered the year concerned about what another down season could mean for him to stay on a roster within the Twins organization, and it could have very much been the case. But his health allowed him to have his best season yet and keep him in the org.
“I’m just super proud of myself and really blessed to where I’ve been,” said Sabato. “Like coming into this year, it could have been a lot different, where I could have really been fighting to stay on a roster or stay in the org. Being where I am now and knowing what I’ve done, it’s just been a blessing.”
“He’s worked really hard to navigate some of that, grow, and continue to sharpen his tools,” Schlecther said.
“He’s grown up, matured, and has learned how to handle failure, and it’s awesome to see from when he was younger in the lower levels to where he’s at now, and he’s still continuing to learn and grow. But he’s been awesome to work with, and it’s been great for him to see some of that success, especially for a former first-rounder that had high expectations.”
Minnesota’s situation at first base in 2026 will be one of their biggest position battles in spring training. Assuming they spend little to no money in free agency, they will need a right-handed platoon option to field the position alongside Kody Clemens. Sabato has worked himself into being the favorite for that role internally after the season he had in 2025.
“Yeah, I mean, this has been by far the best year of my career,” said Sabato. “And I’m just super proud of myself with the work I’ve put in over the off-season. I really stuck with it throughout the entire year. And to be in a position where, over the couple of years of my career, this felt like it would have been a far stretch, and now to be here, it’s fantastic.”
