2026 RHP Jake Carbaugh's relationship with Justin Parker leads to Diamond Dawg decision

A year ago, Jake Carbaugh had totally different plans for his baseball journey.

The talented 2026 RHP committed to Wake Forest pitching coach Corey Muscara and the Deamon Deacons and was set to make an impact in the state of North Carolina. With Muscara leaving to become Duke’s head coach in the offseason, Carbaugh decided to open things back up.

Mississippi State pitching coach Justin Parker had built a relationship with Carbaugh that had begun in the summer of 2024 at Team USA Trials. The Bulldogs came in second the first time around, but they would win this battle this time as Carbaugh announced his commitment on Monday night.

“It’s been crazy and back and forth. I committed to Wake Forest because I fell in love with it there on my visit and really liked (Muscara). With him leaving I opened things back up and Mississippi State was my number two option originally,” Carbaugh said. “Me and Parker had built a relationship for almost two years. I was almost dead set on Mississippi State until I visited Florida State and that made things tough. Ultimately, I decided Mississippi State was where I could develop to be the best pitcher I can be.”

Carbaugh’s relationship with Parker stays strong

Carbaugh had previously visited Starkville after those Team USA trials last year as Chris Lemonis and Parker got him to campus. With his options opened again, he wanted a chance to see how things were run by Brian O’Connor.

The visit to State last month nearly wrapped up with a commitment, but Florida State made things interesting. With the Plant City (Fla.) High School product having both parents as alums of FSU, the Seminoles became a major threat. His relationship with Parker won out in the end.

“The school is great. The facilities are unbelievable. The recruiting class is awesome, and I have a couple of friends there. Florida State is almost too close to home. A couple of my hometown friends could go there and I get easily distracted so I just kind of needed to get away,” Carbaugh said.

“I had seen Mississippi State before the new coaching staff, but I wanted to get up there and meet the new staff. Brian O’Connor had a great reputation at Virginia and is probably a Hall of Fame coach. It was just a pleasure to get there and meet him and the rest of the staff.”

Carbaugh is throwing from a lower arm slot closer to three quarters and has a fastball that is sitting in the mid 90s and topping out at 96 mph with arm-side run. His slider is one of his most effective pitches with a changeup that continues to shape out.

Standing 6’5, 215 pounds, the potential is extremely high for the big right hander. Parker saw the talent jump in his first bullpen.

“Parker has believed in me since day one. The first day of USA Baseball training camp last year, I threw a bullpen with him in the pouring down rain, and he says from that day on that he could tell I have the potential to be a star,” Carbaugh said. “I made a big jump from last year to this year and he believes that’s just the beginning. He sees me as a definite starter and maybe a Friday night guy if I hit my potential.”

Carbaugh joins a signing class that is loading up with talent under O’Connor. The coach inherited a class of six players and has now added another nine to the group in the last few months. Five of those are former Virginia commitments and he’s since added Meridian CC C Harlin Hovater and had two monster pickups on Monday in the form of SS Rocco Maniscalco and C Will Brick.  

“Will Brick is my boy. We met at USA Baseball trials so I like him a lot. Then Wilson Anderson, me and him have built a relationship over the last couple of summers,” Carbaugh said. “It’s going to be unbelievable to play with those guys and others coming in. Watching all these guys play in the summer and competing at these events against the best, it’s going to be crazy to see what we can all do together.”