Corbin Carroll Crushes Two Big Milestones in Win Over Giants

Carroll became the first rookie in MLB history with a 25 home run and 50 stolen base season after achieving both feats today.

Entering play there have only been eight players in MLB history that enjoyed a 25 home run and 50 stolen base season. Some of the names in this elite club of power and speed include Barry Bonds, Joe Morgan, and Rickey Henderson. Corbin Carroll joined this elite club, getting both his 25th home run and 50th stolen base in a 7-1 win over the Giants, becoming the first rookie in the game's storied history to achieve this impressive feat.

"He's an unbelievable talent, he brings a certain edge to the game because of his precision, his athleticism" said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo. "He combines it well and goes out there, make plays, and does things and times it right. It's hard to explain when that clicks for somebody. I don't know when it clicked for him, but it was certainly clicking last year when he got to us and he's gotten even better at the timing of everything he does. That's hard to do for a 22-year-old player."

Lovullo believes there will be a time that his star rookie will go back to reflect on this season, but the D-backs rookie is focused on the bigger picture. 

"I'm proud of it, but at the same time this is the time of the year where we're not playing for accomplishments" said Carroll. "That's out the window at this point, all that matters is to win."

Carroll's big day, which included four hits, two stolen bases, and a home run, carried the D-backs through a game that started off as a pitcher's duel between Logan Webb and Merrill Kelly. Kelly ended up outdueling Webb, holding the Giants to one run on three hits, three walks, and five strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. On a day he didn't have his best stuff or command, he made three early runs stand to record his 17th quality start and 12th win of the season.

After a walk to pinch hitter Wilmer Flores, Lovullo summoned side-arming right-hander Ryan Thompson out of the bullpen. Thompson struck out Thairo Estrada on three pitches, snuffing out the Giants' last chance to get back in the game. Since joining the D-backs on August 31st, he has thrown nine scoreless innings out of the bullpen with four strikeouts and just one walk.

"He's on the back end of it anywhere from the sixth and eighth inning matching up the best part of the lineup for him, and he's gotten huge outs" said Lovullo. "I think it speaks for itself that he's been an unbelievable addition and it's our front office recognizing somebody that would fit into this culture, to be able to execute and help us win baseball games. Ryan has done it, it's been great for us so far." 

After Thompson shut down the Giants, the D-backs responded in the bottom half of the seventh. Sending nine batters to the plate, they scored four runs to put the game away. Carroll's 25th home run of the year led off the frame.

"I'm honored to be on the same team with him, to be able to watch that" said Kelly. "You saw these last two games as a prime example of what he brings to the table, it just causes absolute chaos. Not only in the batter's box, but if he gets on you know something good is going to happen. For somebody who works as hard as he does, takes pride in his craft the way he does, to see him start to rack up the accolades and get people to really notice, it's a pleasure being on his team and seeing him go to work every day."

The win caps off a perfect 5-0 homestand against two other teams in the Wild Card picture, putting the D-backs in great shape to make the postseason. Pending the results of the Cubs and Marlins game, their magic number is now at nine with that many games left. They will have an off day tomorrow to travel to New York to play a tough series over the weekend against the Yankees. Neither team has announced their rotation for the series, so keep an eye out for that here.

Corbin Carroll Makes History in #Dbacks impressive 7-1 victory over Giants https://t.co/kAWpojygcA #MLBFilmRoom via @MLB

— Jack Sommers (@shoewizard59) September 20, 2023