CC Sabathia Let His Son Fail, Learn and Be Coached. Now Carsten Is a Pro

Carsten Sabathia III was six or seven years old when he asked his father a question that probably wasn't asked very often in the Sabathia household.

A Childhood Question Becomes a Career

What exactly did CC Sabathia do for work?

“I was riding in the car one day with my dad,” Carsten recalled. “And it just dawned upon me and I go, ‘Dad, I know you play baseball but like what do you do for work? Like what is your job, how do you make money?’”

His father explained that baseball was his job.

“And I'm like, what do you mean?” Carsten said. “... You mean you can play baseball as a job? Like, I'm set. I already know what I want to do. I was ecstatic.”

Nearly two decades later, the son of the Hall of Fame pitcher is getting paid to play baseball, too.

The former Bergen Catholic standout was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 20th round of the 2026 MLB Draft and is beginning his professional career after a college journey that included injuries, limited opportunities, a transfer and plenty of lessons in failure.

Playing in the Pros

Now 22, Sabathia is pursuing a dream. The 6-foot-4, 245-pound first baseman currently plays for the Wilson Warbirds, the Brewers' Single-A affiliate, after being selected in the 20th round of the 2026 MLB Draft after his senior season at the University of Houston.

Through his first 15 games and 46 at-bats with Wilson, Sabathia was hitting .352 with three home runs, 11 RBI, a .431 on-base percentage and a 1.009 OPS.

For Sabathia, the minor leagues are not something to endure until he reaches his ultimate goal of making the major leagues. They are the first professional steps of that childhood dream.

“I think the 10-hour bus or train rides, things long associated with minor league baseball, I think they’re just some older myths,” Sabathia said. “I’m sitting in our batting cage right now. And we have all of the amenities like the hit track, really all the machines. And this facility they just built here is unbelievable. Minor Leaguers from years ago tell us they can’t believe how good we have it.”

At Bergen Catholic, CC Sabathia Was Dad — Not the Coach

Sabathia entered Bergen Catholic as a freshman surrounded by many of the friends he had grown up with in Bergen County.

“I had a ton of friends going there with me, guys that are still some of my best friends to this day,” he said. “A lot of the guys coming to school with me I had played basketball and baseball with.”

Among them was Zach Wasserlauf, who became his teammate at Bergen Catholic and later played collegiately at Emory. Other lifelong friends include Niko Ruffin, who attended Paramus Catholic and played basketball at Syracuse, and David Mager, who attended Dwight-Englewood and now plays basketball at Pepperdine.

“The same guys that are my friends now, I’ve got baby pictures with them,” Sabathia said. “To them, I’m just Carsten. I’m one of the guys.”

As his baseball profile grew, it was that same tight-knit group that helped keep him grounded.

His Impactful High School Coach

The coach who oversaw Sabathia's development at Bergen Catholic was longtime North Jersey baseball man, Bob Muggeo, who had already established the Crusaders as one of the area's top programs.

Muggeo had coached at St. Joseph Regional, Northern Valley Demarest and Cresskill before taking over at Bergen Catholic. His teams had already won a Bergen County Tournament championship before Carsten's arrival.

CC Sabathia, meanwhile, deliberately stayed out of Muggeo's way.

“My dad, my whole life in sports and in life, when it comes to anything athletic and competitive, he’s completely hands off,” Carsten said. “He’s always allowed me to be coached. He’s always allowed me to trip up and fail and learn from my mistakes.”

That distinction allowed Carsten to develop without having his Hall of Fame father peering over his high school coach’s shoulder. The roles were clearly established: CC was Dad, Muggeo was the coach and Carsten was the player.

“As for his father, yes, CC was 100 percent hands off, Muggeo concurred. “From the standpoint of coming to games, he would come and sit by himself. He’d park himself in the outfield because, of course, he’s a target for every Yankee fan who was looking for a regular conversation or for an autograph or whatever. But there was never any issue with CC Sebathia. He never came to me and said ‘you should be doing this or doing that’ with his son. He was always a gentleman and hands off from the standpoint of letting his son just go out and play.

“Carsten was a captain on our team and someone who was mature beyond a typical senior," Muggeo continued. "He was a hard worker and just a really good kid. We always got along really well. And he improved. As a player he didn’t come in as a super high level prospect, he worked at it. I’ve been in touch with him and I couldn’t be any happier for him. There’s nothing that I could say about him that is not in a positive light.”

Carsten Sabathia Emerges at Bergen Catholic

Following the Covid year in 2020, a period when Carsten described himself as “extremely raw” and “a deer in headlights at times,” his junior and senior seasons established him as one of New Jersey's top high school hitters.

As a senior in 2022, he batted .363 with 33 hits, eight doubles, a triple, four home runs and 30 RBI, helping Bergen Catholic win a district title. He was also a two-time first-team Northeast All-American and was widely regarded as one of the nation’s top first-base prospects.

But Sabathia’s memories extend well beyond statistics.

“I have so many awesome memories with that group in my junior and senior years,” he said. “Just getting to learn so much from the coaching staff was great.”

The relationships he formed at Bergen Catholic remain with him today.

“Those guys, my former coaches and teammates, they would text me after a big hit or a home run in my college days and now that I’m in pro ball.”

College Baseball Tests Him

The next chapter was considerably more difficult as Carsten struggled to find playing time at Georgia Tech, appearing in only 19 games for the Yellow Jackets with 16 at-bats over two seasons. This experience forced him to deal with the first significant baseball disappointment of his life. Injuries and limited opportunities eventually led him into the transfer portal.

A Fresh Start at Houston Leads to the MLB Draft

He transferred to the University of Houston in the fall of 2025, where injuries again complicated the beginning of his stay. But after battling through a torn labrum and undergoing surgery, Sabathia returned healthy for his final college season.

In 37 games as a Houston Cougar in 2026, he hit .283 with six home runs and 18 RBI, highlighted by a robust .511 slugging percentage.

That was enough to get him drafted.

Following His Own Path

Through all of it, Sabathia points back to the support of his parents.

“My mom is Superwoman in my eyes,” he said. “My parents always having my back no matter what and always allowing me to go for what I want, I’m forever in debt and forever grateful for them,” he said. “And my dad, he did such a great job of separating the two-of his work at the field, he was CC, he was the ace, the Hall of Famer. But at home he was dad.”

Carsten’s siblings are following their own paths. His sisters have pursued theater and Broadway-related interests, something Carsten calls “super cool,” while his younger brother has followed him into baseball and is now a freshman at Bergen Catholic.

Carsten Sabathia III arrived at Bergen Catholic as the son of a future Hall of Famer. He left as a player in his own right. Now, in professional baseball, he's trying to see how far that identity can take him.

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