Corbin Carroll called up to Arizona Diamondbacks

First reported by MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert, Corbin Carroll will make his long-awaited debut on Monday against the Phillies as the team returns from a successful road trip.

Many have clamored for the top prospect to make his MLB debut earlier than now, but in an interview with the media on August 18th Mike Hazen seemed to imply Carroll’s arrival would come later in the later.

I would be hard pressed to go back and find a player who has probably climbed through the system as a high school kid in 130 games (and be) on the precipice of the big leagues,” Hazen said. “Now, that’s a credit to him, but there’s still some things, both offensively and defensively, I want to be sure of before we call him up.

But throughout his now 142 games across 3 seasons in the minors, Carroll has done nothing but hit. Across all levels, he’s combined for a .310/.426/.588 slash line, including missing a season for injury as he healed from surgery on both a posterior capsular avulsion and a labrum tear as well as the 2020 season missed due to COVID.

Despite the missed time, Corbin has risen to the top of prospect rankings, including the top spot on Keith Law’s mid-season prospect rankings report An under-sized outfielder coming out of high school in Seattle, Corbin fell in that draft due to that size and the D-backs swooped in, selecting him 16th overall in the 2019 draft. Here’s what Keith Law says we can expect in Corbin right now:

He’s an 80 runner underway who can play plus defense in center, makes a ton of hard contact and has plus power, along with an incredible work ethic. [...] He looks like he’s going to be a superstar and should see the majors before the year is out.

It’s an aggressive call-up, especially with the outfield already crowded with Jake McCarthy, Alek Thomas, Daulton Varsho, and Stone Garrett clamoring for at-bats with off-season acquisition Jordan Luplow still lurking on the roster. It will certainly be interesting to see how the team handles playing time from here on out. Will Carroll get everyday at-bats in centerfield? Regardless, it’s an exciting time to be a D-backs fan. Let me know what you think.