Corbin Carroll's historic rookie season continued Wednesday afternoon against the San Francisco Giants (ARI 7, SF 1). The Arizona Diamondbacks wunderkind went 4 for 5 with a home run, two stolen bases, and three runs scored in the game. The home run was his 25th of the season, and the stolen bases his 49th and 50th. With that, Carroll is the first 25/50 rookie in MLB history.
Here is Carroll's busy afternoon:
Carroll is the 13th member of the 25/50 club and the only other players to do it at age 23 or younger are Hanley Ramirez and César Cedeño. Ramirez had 29 homers and 51 steals with the 2007 Florida Marlins. Cedeño did it twice with the Houston Astros: 25 homers and 56 steals in 1973, and 26 homers and 57 steals in 1974.
Wednesday's game upped Carroll's season batting line to .286/.364/.512. Add in strong outfield defense -- Carroll has started at least 34 games in all three outfield spots -- and he entered the day ranked ninth among National League position players with 5.0 WAR. The young man is a franchise player in every way.
The D-Backs wisely signed Carroll to an eight-year contract extension worth $111 million in spring training. The deal includes a club option for a ninth season. Carroll would almost certainly get three times as much the guaranteed money on the open market this offseason, if not more.
In addition to Carroll reaching a historic milestone, the win was an important one for the D-Backs. They now have a full one-game lead for a postseason berth, though the Marlins and Chicago Cubs could inch closer with wins Wednesday night.
