The Brewers used the 20th round of the MLB draft on Sunday, July 12, to select Carsten Sabathia III, taking the 22-year-old first baseman with the No. 611 overall pick. It was a late-round move, but one that immediately carried a familiar name back into the Brewers' orbit.
For Carsten, the pick landed in the middle of a family moment. His mother, Amber, was crying on the phone after the selection, and CC was ecstatic, even though he and Amber were in Philly for the all-star festivities when the call came through. Carsten said he heard his younger sister shout from upstairs, thought something was wrong, and then checked the tracker himself. “I’m the oldest and I have that third parent instinct,” he said.
The draft choice gives the Brewers a power bat with a built-in baseball lineage. Carsten is 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, and he described himself as “a bat first” player, a right-handed hitter who has worked to add corner infield and outfield flexibility. At the University of Houston, he hit.283 with eight home runs and 36 runs batted in in 37 games, posting an.885 OPS after playing his first two college seasons at Georgia Tech.
That output mattered because it showed where the bat had finally caught up to the body. Carsten said last year he did not think he had a strong shot to be drafted because he was coming off a torn labrum, and teams wanted to see him back at 100% capacity. This season gave them that look. He said he knew he would get an opportunity to play baseball somewhere, but the draft call still turned a hope into a pick.
Tod Johnson said Carsten had been a prospect for a few years and had shown well at showcase events in high school before heading to school. That long view helps explain why a 20th-round pick is not just a flyer. Under draft rules, late selections can leave room for leverage if a player believes the market is stronger than the slot, but Carsten's path points the other way: he is a polished college hitter with a draft pedigree, and the Brewers clearly saw enough to make him part of the class.
His family connection gives the selection a sharper edge in Milwaukee, where CC's name still carries weight from his time with the Brewers. Carsten said he remembered going to the stadium as a child, loving the uniforms, the colors and the slide, and said those memories came flooding back when the Brewers called his name. What happens next is the real question now: whether the club can turn the family story and the bat into a signed contract, and whether Carsten's first stop in professional baseball will begin with the same team that once had his father on the mound.
