Betts: Sabrowski soaking up first trip to Toronto

Prospects Baseball Academy alum Erik Sabrowski (Edmonton, Alta.) has a major league-leading 10 holds for the Cleveland Guardians this season. Photo: Global News

April 25, 2026

By Matt Betts

Canadian Baseball Network

Erik Sabrowski has been on plenty of flights, pitched in a lot of ballparks and explored a slew of major cities over parts of three big league seasons.

But this Thursday’s travel schedule was special.

When Cleveland’s plane touched down in Toronto for their three-game series at Rogers Centre, it was the first time the Guardians left-hander had been to the city.

The next night, Sabrowski (Edmonton, Alta.) experienced another first on home soil when Guardians manager Stephen Vogt summoned his high leverage lefty from the bullpen in the eighth inning with his team clinging to an 8-6 lead.

Sabrowski delivered by getting Myles Straw to line out to centre field, striking out Lenyn Sosa and sitting down Daulton Varsho on a line out to left. It would end up being his 10th hold of the season.

“It’s been 10 or 11 years since I’ve heard the Canadian anthem before a game,” Sabrowski said prior to Game 2 of the series.

“So that was cool. Being able to be on that mound, a place where I feel like I’ve been, but haven’t been before.”

Prior to Friday night, the only time Sabrowski had experienced a baseball game at Rogers Centre was on television and radio.

He recalled travelling back from a high school baseball tournament in the fall of 2015 listening to Jose Bautista hit his bat flip home run that’s etched in Blue Jays history. The bus “went wild.”

Sabrowski is an example that few careers are linear.

He never pitched for the Junior National Team or at the Canadian Futures Showcase, nor was he a high-end Division I recruit. He played his college baseball, like many Canadians before and after him, at Cloud County Community College in Concordia, Kansas.

His under the radar path also hasn’t been without its fair share of adversity. Sabrowski had to work his way back from not one, but two Tommy John surgeries. The first caused him to miss the 2019 season after being drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 14th round, 411th overall the year prior.

The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out his 2020 season. Then, in 2021, he went under the knife a second time for Tommy John, the same year Cleveland scooped him up in the Rule 5 draft.

Through it all, he found a way, making his big league debut on Sept. 4, 2024. He tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings and fanned two in a 4-1 loss in Kansas City.

Add in the recent the birth of his daughter in February, and Sabrowski has plenty of perspective to keep him grounded.

“The time away from baseball, the surgeries, allowed me to be a student of the game,” Sabrowski said.

“Realizing a bad day while you're playing is so much better than a good day when you're rehabbing.”

Every offseason, Sabrowski makes his way home to workout at Absolute Human Performance in St. Albert and can often be found helping the youth players at the academy. It’s a way to remain grounded in his provincial roots.

For AHP coaches Ethan Elias and Taylor Burns, Sabrowski isn’t just an example of what’s possible, he’s the ultimate example.

“It’s inspiration,” Elias said.

“He did it. You can do it. It’s possible to do, it’s not just a dream.”

Elias made the trip east to watch his friend pitch in Toronto. Watching his pal run in from the bullpen was “surreal.”

“It’s the coolest thing in the world,” Elias said.

“For us, he’s just Erik, one of our best friends. It’s really special.”

Following Sabrowski in the opener of the series was right-hander Cade Smith (Abbotsford, BC), who locked down his sixth save of the season, and first in Toronto. It was done with catcher Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) behind the plate.

In the heat of the moment with the game on the line, it’s all business, but being able to help grow the game in Canada is a point of pride.

“The number of Canadians in the league keeps growing,” Sabrowski said.

“But still, it’s a smaller group and to be able to say I’m a part of that group is pretty special to me and something I’m proud of.”