Arizona Diamondbacks' Corbin Carroll, Tampa Bay Rays' Wander Franco Could Make Baseball History This Year

Arizona Diamondbacks rookie Corbin Carroll and Wander Franco of the Tampa Bay Rays are currently leading baseball in WAR. If they were to finish with that, it would be one of only four times it's happened in baseball history.

Some of you may not be fans of advanced analytics, but no matter what, you're a fan of good baseball players.

That's exactly what Corbin Carroll of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Wander Franco of the Tampa Bay Rays are.

Right now, the young duo is on pace for some impressive baseball history that we haven't seen since 1929.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

22-yr-olds Corbin Carroll + Wander Franco are tied for most WAR, per FG, among position players duos in age-22 szn or younger to both finish top-2 in fWAR (pos players) in same yr: 

2021 Fernando Tatis Jr, Juan Soto 

1929 Jimmie Foxx, Mel Ott (both T2) 

1909 Eddie Collins, Ty Cobb

22-yr-olds Corbin Carroll + Wander Franco are tied for most WAR, per FG, among position players

duos in age-22 szn or younger to both finish top-2 in fWAR (pos players) in same yr:

2021 Fernando Tatis Jr, Juan Soto
1929 Jimmie Foxx, Mel Ott (both T2)
1909 Eddie Collins, Ty Cobb

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) June 13, 2023

1) Any time you are on a list full of Hall of Famers like Cobb, Foxx and Ott, you're doing something right.

2) It's no wonder that the Diamondbacks and Rays are so good. With these guys on the roster and performing, these are two of the best teams in baseball. The Rays entered play on Tuesday at a league-best 48-21 and the Diamondbacks were a National League-best 41-25.

Carroll is playing himself into the National League MVP conversation right now, hitting .313 with 13 homers, 34 RBI and 19 stolen bases. He made his major league debut last year but has run with the full-time opportunity this season.

Franco is one of the centerpieces of the Rays, hitting .296 with eight homers, 32 RBI and 22 stolen bases. He's a lifetime .287 hitter with 21 homers and 104 RBI, while adding 32 steals.

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