October 12th, 2023
Brian Murphy
@Spokes_MurphyCorbin Carroll was considered one of the best pure hitters and athletes in the 2019 MLB Draft. He has done nothing but affirm that belief everywhere he's been during his professional career. Now, following a historic rookie season, Carroll is the face of the D-backs and has guided them to their first National League Championship Series since 2007.
Before the NLCS begins Monday, here's what you need to know about one of baseball's most talented young stars.
FAST FACTS
MLB organization: D-backs
Birthdate: Aug. 21, 2000 (Age 23)
Primary position: OF
Height/weight: 5-foot-10, 165 lbs.
Bats/throws: Left/left
Hometown: Seattle
School(s): Lakeside (Wash.) School
Drafted: 16th overall, 2019 (by AZ)
MLB Debut: Aug. 29, 2022
25 and 50
The 2023 NL Rookie of the Year Award winner won't be announced until November, but Carroll looks like a shoo-in to become the first D-back to receive the honor after what he did this season. Specifically, Carroll is the first rookie in MLB history to record 25 homers and 50 stolen bases. Only 13 players have reached those marks in a single season, and Carroll joined Cesar Cedeno as the only players to go 20-50 in their age-22 or younger season.
Carroll also created his own power-speed club as the first player with 25 homers, 50 steals and 10 triples in a season.
Catch him if you can
Carroll is a really good hitter -- he arrived in the Majors with a 65-grade bat, according to MLB Pipeline -- but his speed is what really opens everyone's eyes. An elite Sprint Speed is 30 feet per second; Carroll's average Sprint Speed this season was 30.1 feet per second. His 120 Bolts - any run above 30 feet per second - trailed only Bobby Witt Jr. for the most in the Majors. Carroll is so fast, he can strike out and still end up on third base.
Besides helping him become one of the game's most valuable baserunners, Carroll's speed is one reason why he is a plus defender in the outfield.
He's got the power
Carroll's undersized frame created concerns regarding his power potential leading into the Draft. Those concerns seemed to be well founded early on as Carroll hit just two home runs in his first 42 games as a pro. Then came the lost season due to the pandemic, followed by a season-ending shoulder injury that he suffered while hitting a home run in May 2021.
However, Carroll's tireless work ethic and insatiable desire to improve took over during his rehab. As he returned to the field in 2022, he began blasting balls out of the park at a previously unseen rate. After hitting four homers through his first 177 Minor League at-bats between Rookie ball and High-A, the lefty clubbed 16 dingers in 227 at-bats at Double-A. He was then promoted to Triple-A, where his first hit was a home run.
Carroll is the third D-backs rookie to hit 25 homers in a season, and that doesn't include the no-doubters he launched in the first two rounds of the 2023 postseason. His projected 444-foot dinger against the Brewers in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series was the second longest of his budding career. A few days later, Carroll admired his 421-foot clout at Dodger Stadium in Game 1 of the NLDS.
All-Star homecoming
When you think of Seattle and speedy outfielders, Ichiro Suzuki should be one first names that comes to mind. As MLB.com's Steve Gilbert detailed in a fabulous feature on Carroll, the phenom's first baseball memory consists of sitting in the upper deck on the first-base side at T-Mobile Park (then called Safeco Field) watching Ichiro patrol right field. A photo of the two players serves as the screensaver on Carroll's phone.
This past summer, Carroll made a lasting memory on the same field his childhood idol roamed for so long, as a starter in the All-Star Game.
"One of my goals was to be at this game, and to be starting, it is just that much more of a cherry on top," Carroll said soon after his starting spot was announced. "... To have your first All-Star Game in the city you grew up in, at the stadium you grew up going to, it’s very exciting to think about.”
Succeeding everywhere
It's a little hyperbolic to say Carroll has been a standout on the diamond for his entire life, but it does seem that way. He was a prep star who led his Lakeside School squad to the state title game as a freshman, was named MVP of the Perfect Game All-American Classic after his junior year and batted .540 as a senior.
By the way, Lakeside School boasts many notable alums, including Microsoft co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen.
Not too long after taking his final swings as an amateur, Carroll was a first-round selection by the D-backs in the 2019 Draft and kept right on raking. He logged at least a .287 average and an .850 OPS at each of his five stops through Arizona's Minor League system before debuting in The Show on Aug. 29, 2022.
'I try and operate on love'
There was a time when Carroll used the slights surrounding him as fuel to become a better player. He once told The Athletic that seeing other players receive college offers before him "really pissed me off." He knew that MLB Draft evaluators doubted his home run ability. He was reminded multiple times that he was the last player chosen to compete for Team USA at the 2018 COPABE U-18 Pan-American Championship. That team wound up winning a gold medal.
But as his career progressed, Carroll's mentality changed, as he told Gilbert.
"Not only related to baseball, but more of a life lesson -- there are two ways you can operate. You can operate on fear, or you can operate on love. I try and operate on love," he said.
