Growing up in Seattle, Corbin Carroll dreamed of one day playing baseball at T-Mobile Park.
On Tuesday, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ breakthrough rookie will see his dream come true when he steps onto the field as the starting left fielder and eighth hitter for the National League in the All-Star Game.
Carroll grew up a passionate Mariners fan and idolized Seattle superstars of the mid-2000s like Ichiro Suzuki and Félix Hernández. Now, it’s Carroll’s turn to be the star, and he knows that experiences like this don’t happen very often.
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Arizona Diamondbacks’ Corbin Carroll wears his «victory vest» after hitting an RBI single against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 10th inning during a baseball game, Saturday, July 8, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Not only is this Carroll’s first All-Star appearance, but it will be his first time playing in his hometown ballpark. His high school team fell one game away from playing there in the state baseball tournament.
«I think it’s just about soaking it up and enjoying it,» Carroll said. «In playing time for me, and throughout the season, I’m pretty focused and locked in, but I think (on Tuesday), I’m not really going to try to be like that. I’m just going to try to enjoy it.» , chat with as many of these great players as possible and soak it all up.»
Carroll became a prep star at Seattle’s Lakeside School, best known as the school attended by Microsoft co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen and former «Batman» actor Adam West. But the school has never graduated an athlete of Carroll’s caliber.
After Carroll capped off his outstanding prep career with a .540 batting average and 1.859 OPS as a senior, the Diamondbacks took him with the 16th pick in the 2019 amateur. minors and is a current favorite to win the National League Rookie of the Year award.
He is the first rookie to have 15 home runs and 25 stolen bases before the All-Star break.
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Arizona Diamondbacks’ Corbin Carroll, center right, celebrates with Ketel Marte (4), Jake McCarthy (31), Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (12) and Alek Thomas (5) after hitting an RBI single against the Pirates Pittsburgh in the tenth inning. during a baseball game, Saturday, July 8, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
«I think he’s the MVP so far for us,» Diamondbacks All-Star shortstop Geraldo Perdomo said. «He’s been amazing. He’s been freaking out the bases, hits for power, hits average, can do a lot. He’s meant a lot to us.»
Carroll currently has 18 home runs and a team-high 26 stolen bases along with a .289 batting average, .366 on-base percentage and .549 slugging percentage to lead the upstart Diamondbacks, who are currently tied with the Dodgers. atop the National League West standings.
«He just does everything, from what I can tell,» Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw said. «So when you’re that fast, you can play great defense, and when you get hit over the fence, too, it’s a tough combo. So yeah, it’s good.»
As his hometown kid, Carroll will be one of the central players in Tuesday’s game, but he likely would have been in the stadium even if he hadn’t made the team. His original plan for the week was to come home and spend a few days with his family.
«I already had a flight here, because I was planning to come back anyway,» Carroll said. «If I hadn’t been at the game, I probably would have been here as a fan just enjoying watching baseball like this in Seattle.»
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Corbin Carroll of the Arizona Diamondbacks drives home for a score against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the sixth inning of a baseball game on Friday, July 7, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
At 22, Carroll is too young to remember the 2001 All-Star Game in Seattle, where eight Mariners were named to the team. But he’s looking forward to creating new memories for himself, his family and his fans in the place where he first learned to love the game.
Last weekend, Carroll’s mother, Pey-Lin Carroll, tweeted a photo of Carroll as a toddler outside the left-field gate at T-Mobile Park, in the same spot where his All-Star sign now hangs. Star.
«My description of that is that it’s a very complete moment,» Carroll said. «Definitely a wild moment. That poster was of Jamie Moyer when I was a little kid sitting there, and to be there this week is pretty special.»