Not bad, given the first half he had.
You could argue a case that Corbin Carroll’s season had almost as big a turnaround as that of Eugenio Suarez. At the one-third point of the season, he was hitting .184/.269/.279 for an OPS of just .547 – the dreaded “sophomore slump” had bitten Corbin, and bitten him hard. But in the next third, his line improved to .247/.346/.446 and a much more respectable .792 OPS. He got even better thereafter, his power numbers in particular surging with fourteen home-runs, and in the final third he delivered a slash of .262/.350/.559 for a .910 OPS. Hopefully, this is something that Carroll can build on, and deliver a full season closer to that last third – or, at least, the middle one.
But it was still good enough to get Carroll ranked sixth by MLB Network. Although that was a drop of two places from his spot last year, when he was coming off his unanimous Rookie of the Year selection. In regard to Carroll, MLB Network analyst and 17-year MLB veteran Cliff Floyd said, “He became the guy that changed the whole season.”
- Aaron Judge, NYY (Last year: No. 1 CF)
- Kyle Tucker, CHC (2)
- Juan Soto, NYM (3)
- Fernando Tatis Jr., SD (5)
- Seiya Suzuki, CHC (6)
- Corbin Carroll, AZ (4)
- Ronald Acuña Jr., ATL (1)
- Kerry Carpenter, DET (NR)
- Matt Wallner, MIN (NR)
- Teoscar Hernández, LAD (8)
Personally, I’d rather have Carroll than Suzuki or Tatis, but not being a jackass suspended for failing a PED test might have something to do with that. Maybe it’s just me. What do you reckon?
Hosted by MLB Network’s Brian Kenny, the 15th season of each Top 10 Right Now ranking considers player performance over multiple seasons, offensive and defensive metrics, both advanced Statcast data and traditional numbers, and expert analysis by the MLB Network research team. The series also features Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Costas, longtime MLB Network host and Radio Hall of Famer Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo, and BBWAA Career Excellence Award winner Jayson Stark revealing and debating various Top 10 lists, including All-Time Players and Managers.
Two categories left to go, with the next one due on Tuesday evening, when first basemen will be the topic. Be interesting to see where Christian Walker sits, and whether new D-back Josh Naylor is considered good enough to make the cut.