When Corbin Carroll launched his first of two home runs against Austin Gomber in a 9-4 win over the Rockies, he joined an elite club. He became just the third player in major league history to hit 45 home runs and steal 80 bases between his rookie season and the following season.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!- Hanley RamÃrez (2006-2007): 46 home runs, 102 stolen bases
- Mike Trout (2012-2013): 57 home runs, 82 stolen bases
- Corbin Carroll (2023-2024): 46 home runs, 83 stolen bases
Current Royals superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. barely missed out on joining this exclusive club, falling one stolen base short in 2023 with 50 homers and 79 steals.
The list is a particularly interesting one, as it has two very unique outcomes. Trout is most certainly headed to a 99% first-ballot Hall of Fame induction, despite injuries slowing him down of late, and RamÃrez was a really good player who fell off the Hall of Fame track in his 30s. Looking at that exclusive club, Trout and Carroll are the only two to put up back-to-back 20/20 seasons to begin their careers. Jack Sommers points out that Carroll was one of 11 players to record multiple 20/20 seasons through their Age 23 season.
It’s worth noting all three players got a cup of coffee in their debut seasons, with Carroll getting the most run with 32 games and 38 days of service time entering his rookie year. Trout and Carroll both won their league’s respective Rookie of the Year races.
“He’s a remarkable young man, I am so proud of how he just stayed with his overall game plan, he adjusted” said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo. “He never lost confidence, he just kept going out there and he was full throttle every single day. That means more to me than anything and I know his teammates and the rest of the coaching staff feel the same way. It’s a tremendous accomplishment.”
Carroll was sitting at just two home runs entering play on July 7. He had mightily struggled the first half of the season, with a .210/.298/.310 slash in his 87 games. Since that day, he’s slugged 19 home runs and 14 stolen bases in just 60 games.
“If you told me mid-July that I’d be sitting with that many homers I would have been pretty incredulous,” said Carroll in a postgame interview on DbacksTV following that game. “It’s been awesome, it’s been a lot of hard work, and I hope to keep going.”
The Diamondbacks certainly hope that Carroll can continue to rewrite the history books in what could shape up to be a long and promising career.
Eduardo Rodriguez logs first quality start in Diamondbacks 9-4 win over the Rockies
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona Cardinals, and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
