Corbin Carroll stormed the national stage with one of the best seasons in major league history in 2023, steamrolling the field to win National League Rookie of the Year unanimously.
He is at it again.
Two seasons and swing refinements later, Carroll has reprised his role as one of top offensive multi-taskers in the NL. A month into the season Carroll, the New York Mets’ Pete Alonso and the Chicago Cubs’ Kyle Tucker are in the early conversations about the MVP race.
“The start he has does not surprise me,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “When he stands at home plate, I get the feeling that he is going to impact the game somehow, some way, with every pitch, in every way.”
Carroll used his power/speed skill set in 2023 to record 25 doubles, 25 home runs, 10 triples and 50 stolen bases — the first player in history to reach these plateaus in the same season. He was the first rookie with 25 homers and 50 steals.
He hit a speed bump last season after tinkering with his swing in attempt to elevate the ball more, although he still had 22 homers and 74 RBIs. He led the league in triples but lost 50 points off his batting average and 100 points off his OPS.
Another approach redo has him back on track this season. It begins with his set-up. He holds his bat higher and keeps his hands closer to his body before beginning his swing. Trouble handling inside pitches is no longer an issue.
In a small sample size, the metrics are telling. Carroll’s has increased his bat speed into the 90th percentile of major leaguers, which has led to dramatic increases in exit velocity, launch angle and hard-hit percentage, even from 2023. His strikeout percentage is up a tick, but trading more slug for slightly less contact is a net positive.
Carroll is back to hammering fastballs, as he did in 2023, and he is handling pitches middle and middle-in at a higher frequency than last season, according to FanGraphs. He shows up in the clutch, hitting .417 in high-leverage situations.
“It’s helped a little bit,” Carroll said of his new set-up. “I think the swing is pretty similar. It is just a little bit different starting position. It’s less about where I’m starting. It’s more about the spot that I want to get to and keep.
“Where I start allows me to get to that spot a little bit better. Just be able to turn on some of those high pitches. I feel good. Hitting a lot of balls hard, in the air, off the ground. That’s been really positive. It feels good. Going to continue to roll with it.”
Carroll led the National League with nine homers and was fifth with 24 RBIs through April 25, further affirming general manager Mike Hazen’s decision to sign him to an eight-year, $111 contract extension in the spring of 2023 that with a team option could keep him in Arizona through 2031.
Carroll’s 19 extra-base hits led the league, and his slugging percentage and OPS trailed only Alonso. He led NL leadoff hitters in virtually every offensive category and had five stolen bases.
“It’s a lot of hard work,” Lovullo said. “It’s a lot of sacrifice, a lot of commitment. Last year during that time when it was hard for all of us to watch what he doing because he was having so much of a hard time, I knew he’d figure it out. And when he did, he was going to have results like this.“
He’s on a quest to every single day to not waste a second of a day to get better. He accepts coaching. He shows up to the ballpark wanting to get better than he was yesterday.”
A left-hander hitter, Carroll has two two-homer games and is slashing .346/.400/.782 with eight homers against right-handers. He usually hits first against righties, flip-flopping with No. 2 Ketel Marte or Geraldo Perdomo when Arizona faces a lefty.
“It’s great to see balls hit over the fence, but I think part of what is working is that that’s not necessarily what I am trying to do,” Carroll said. “I’m just trying to hit balls hard on a line, and those swings happen sometimes. I’ve been really pleased with how it has gone so far.”
Carroll’s most recent homer came against Tampa Bay left-hander and hard-thrower Mason Montgomery on Wednesday, when he hit a 91 mph slider off the batter’s eye beyond the center field fence at Chase Field.
“He’s a very special player,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said.
Carroll, 24, relished the left-on-left challenge.
“I think most hitters are more comfortable facing the opposite handed-pitcher,” he said, “but I want to be a complete player and make sure I can hold my own against lefties as well.”
Of his fast start, Carroll said, “There are plenty of ways to look at it,” granting that erasing the slow start 2004 “is definitely one of them.”
“I’m trying to go out there and not think about time of the year or anything like that. Just take it one at-bat at a time and see what I can do.”
