Corbin Carroll had a sophomore slump.
There’s really no other great way to describe his 2024 struggles in his second full season with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
But it’s safe to say he’s broken out of it in a gigantic way so far in 2025. Carroll is an early leading candidate for National League MVP.
The basic stats themselves are glorious: a .323 average, seven doubles, seven homers, 19 RBI, four steals in as many attempts.
But if you take a peak under the hood, there’s something Carroll is doing better than anyone else in baseball, and it’s a huge reason for his early success.
Carroll destroys fastballs up in the zone.
Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
According to MLB stats expert Ryan Spaeder, Carroll has seen 43 fastballs classified as “up in the zone” so far this season.
On them, he’s batting .474 with a .947 slugging percentage. The MLB averages on those pitches are .243 and .427.
The high fastball has been one of this era’s great successes for pitchers. With increasing spin rates and velocity, the high-octane pitches can almost seem to be rising.
Carroll has mashed against those very pitches that have made a lot of money for a lot of pitchers.
There’s likely some regression coming, but it also speaks to Carroll’s immense talent. Still just 24 years old, he found a way to become nearly unstoppable on a pitch that for many pitchers has been their unstoppable weapon.
Diamondbacks fans sure are thrilled that Carroll has upgraded from his .231 2024 average, and it’s good for baseball, too.
Carroll looked like one of the game’s brightest rising stars in 2023 when he won Rookie of the Year. He took a bit of a backseat last season, but now he’s clearly back on his game.
He’s exactly the kind of shooting star that MLB needs moving forward, just 5-foot-10, 165 pounds of pure baseball brilliance, especially against the high heat.
MORE MLB NEWS:
