MILWAUKEE – The Brewers ended their 2026 MLB Draft with a bang by picking a player whose name brings back great memories of one special summer at Miller Park.
The team’s 20th-round selection was University of Houston's Carsten Sabathia III. Yes, that’s the son of Hall of Famer (and former Brewers pitcher) CC Sabathia, and no, he’s not a pitcher like dad. He’s a first baseman who made a mark at the Draft combine by smashing seven balls at 104.9 mph or higher.
“He’s always swung the bat pretty well, so that’s interesting,” said Brewers VP of amateur acquisitions Tod Johnson. “And obviously, CC is a huge piece of the franchise history here, so we know we’re getting a solid young man as well.”
The younger Sabathia played two seasons at Georgia Tech and two seasons at Houston, where he came back from a 2025 shoulder surgery to hit .283/.374/.511 with six homers in 107 plate appearances as a senior, splitting time between designated hitter and first base.
But there are also the traits that can’t be measured, which his dad explained to MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince before Carsten went undrafted last year.
“Our conversations have always been different because of his baseball IQ and because of how much of a fan he is,” the elder Sabathia said. “Like, you could have a conversation with him about a 2-1 pitch when he was 10 years old. And when he was 14, he would try to hit behind runners and do all these different things instead of just trying to hit a homer, because he always had a mind to try to do the right thing on the diamond.”
And he won’t be the only son of a famous former Brewer in Milwaukee’s Minor League system. The Brewers also feature Jadyn Fielder, the son of Prince, who signed last year as an undrafted free agent and is currently playing at Class A Wilson.
The younger Sabathia was just turning 5 years old when his dad was starring for the Brewers after coming over from Cleveland in a July 2008 trade. CC Sabathia went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA in 17 Brewers starts down the stretch, throwing seven complete games including three shutouts, and making a series of starts on short rest to help carry the Brewers into the postseason for the first time in 26 years, even though he had free agency on the line that fall.
The Brewers hosted CC back in Milwaukee just this year while inducting him into the team’s Wall of Honor in May.
Now it’s his son’s turn to fulfill a dream that began when he was a toddler. CC and Amber Sabathia had to fudge his age when Carsten was just 2 years old so that he could play T-ball in the Cleveland suburbs.
“He loved the game so much, and we had to get him out on the field,” Amber said. “So we had this 2-year-old that was out there full-on swinging the bat, playing, and the best one on the team.”
Carsten told MLB.com last year that he grew up wanting to play every position -- including, naturally, pitcher.
But when he was about 11 years old, he hurt his arm, and his dad suggested he just focus on hitting for the summer. That decision has paid off with a chance to play pro ball.
“I just fell in love with it,” Carsten said. “From that summer on, I wanted to play every day, I wanted the bat in my hands.”