The Stone Age Meets The Future - Dbacks Newsletter - August

The future has arrived for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Dbacks have just called up top prospect Corbin Caroll, who has been in the Minor Leagues since 2019. Carroll, who is sporting a .307 batting average this season in the Minors, according to Baseball Reference, is only twenty-two. Over his career in MiLB, Carroll is batting .310 with a .426 on-base percentage and has drawn 102 walks and 167 hits in 657 plate appearances. Corbin Carroll is from Seattle and attended Lakeside High School. Drafted in the 1st round of the 2019 MLB Draft, Carroll has quickly climbed up through the Minors and made his MLB debut Monday, August 29th, he batted 8th and played in right field (RF) versus the Phillies. According to Jonathan Mayo of MLB Pipeline, Carroll is ranked 19th in the MLB Pipeline Prospect Rankings. Carroll is also a prime defender, with only seven errors across his 3 years in the Minors. He has a .972 fielding percentage ("How often does a fielder or team make the play when tasked with fielding a batted ball, throwing a ball, or receiving a thrown ball for an out," says MLB).

Dazzling Debut

Dbacks' top prospect Corbin Caroll made his MLB debut Monday at Chase Feild versus the Philidelphia Phillies. His family was in attendance and was ecstatic to see his first big-league hit. Carroll only played three seasons in the Minors before being called up to the Majors. In his Minor-League career, he has a .310 batting average and a .426 on-base percentage (according to Baseball Reference). In his debut, Carroll went one-for-five, with an RBI hit. He knocked in two runs in his first game and scored twice. Carroll has a bright future in the Majors and is currently living up to his top prospect rankings.

The Stone Age

Among the prospects called up by the Dbacks this season, Stone Garret is one of them, who hit his first career homer on 8/28/22. Garrett is a 26-year-old rookie who previously played nearly eight seasons in the Minors with the Marlins and the Dbacks. In the majors, Garrett has 6 hits in 23 at-bats with four runs batted in. He is batting .391 in his first week. In the Minors, Garrett previously won MiLB.com's Organization All-Star Award twice, as well as a Player of the Month and a Player of the Week award. As many reporters have said, the "Stone Age" is upon Arizona... let's hope Stone Garrett can continue his success throughout his Major League career.

Mound Visit

The Dbacks have made history as of late... the biggest comeback in Dbacks history was that historic moment in Monday night's game. In that game, Corbin Carroll made his MLB debut (see "Dazzling Debut").

"Falling down 7-0 is nothing that you ever predict, nothing you ever want to be a part of … but our guys just locked in from an offensive standpoint. There’s so many things that stand out to me … eight walks, 13 runs, timely hitting. It was a really, really nice comeback, really proud of these guys," says Dbacks' manager Torey Lovullo via 98.7 Arizona Sports.

The Dbacks offense exploded in Monday's game for thirteen runs after trailing seven to nothing. Among the players with notable hits were Carson Kelly, Emmanuel Rivera, Corbin Carroll (1st MLB hit), Stone Garrett (see "The Stone Age"), and Jake McCarthy. In total, the Dbacks had 10 hits, 13 runs, and one error compared to the Phil's 11 hits, 7 runs, and one error.

Making history isn't easy, but the Dbacks managed it!

Mikal Bridges Appreciation Night!

The Arizona Diamondbacks made a friendly wager on Twitter with Phoenix Suns' star Mikal Bridges. They lost. The Dbacks' wager proposal was:

"We win the series, you come to a game in a full #Dbacks uniform - hat, jersey, pants, the works. Phillies win the series, we'll have Mikal Bridges Appreciation Day on our account when they come to town in August. Deal?"

Phillies fan Bridges accepted. Following the Phillies series win in early June, Bridges responded to the Dbacks' Twitter post.

"🥲 Guys I'm sorry."

A couple of weeks ago, the Dbacks announced discounted tickets for the game on the 30th, Bridges' birthday, on Ticketmaster. Bridges attended the Dbacks game, and the Dbacks complied with the wager, hosting Bridges at Chase Field vs the Phillies.

Part of the wager was the Dbacks having Mikal Bridges Appreciation Day on their Twitter account, to which they complied to rename their account "Mikal Bridges Fan Account" with their profile photo being Mikal Bridges (pictured below).

Upon Jake McCarthy making the ballgame 5-0 Dbacks on an RBI hit, the Dbacks posted via their Twitter, "Jake McCarthy aka @campayne's [Cam Payne, player on the Phx Suns] favorite player (it's true) makes it a 5-run inning!" Among other playful banter towards Mikal Bridges and the Phillies.

In Torey We Trust

A common phrase among Dbacks' fans is "In Torey We Trust", referencing the team's skipper Torey Lovullo. According to the MLB, fans of Torey can relax once again, as the Dbacks chose to exercise Lovullo's club option for 2023, letting him stick around The Valley for another year. Over the course of his Dbacks' career, Lovullo has 397 wins and 438 losses with a .475 winning percentage. He has only twelve ejections in nearly six full seasons with the team. Lovullo is a fine manager with a great reputation, and Dbacks' fans are pleased to see him stick around for another year.

A Lot of Free Tacos

All-in-all, the Dbacks' are a very fun team to watch and have had a nice run following the All-Star Break (Dbacks' Newsletter - All-Star Edition) and have a lot of talent on their roster, and in their highly-ranked Minor League system. Overall, with the number of runs the ball club has been scoring lately, they'll have earned a lot of free tacos, as when the Dbacks score 5+ runs, Taco Bell gives away free tacos! So stay tuned for next month's Dbacks' Newsletter and enjoy the tacos the team has earned you.

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Images:

Cover - Torey Lovullo - Mwinog2777, Mikal Bridges - TonyTheTiger

Cover art designed by Nathaniel Wiley

"Mound Visit" - Al_HikesAZ

Mikal Bridges Fan Account - @Dbacks via Twitter

"A Lot of Free Tacos" - JeepersMedia

For more of the best sports stories online, visit NWP Sports here!

Works Cited

Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) • Instagram Photos and Videos, www.instagram.com/dbacks/.

Twitter, Twitter, twitter.com/Dbacks.

“Corbin Carroll Minor Leagues Statistics & History.” Baseball, www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=carrol000cor.

“Fielding Percentage (FPCT): Glossary.” MLB.com, www.mlb.com/glossary/standard-stats/fielding-percentage.

Gilbert, Steve. “Lovullo 'Honored' to Return to D-Backs in '23.” MLB.com, MLB, 31 Aug. 2022, www.mlb.com/news/torey-lovullo-s-2023-club-option-picked-up.

“Phillies 7, D-Backs 13 Final Score (08/29/2022) on MLB Gameday.” MLB.com, www.mlb.com/gameday/phillies-vs-d-backs/2022/08/29/663332#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=box,game=663332.

“Phoenix Suns on Instagram: ‘The Star of The Show! Welcome to Mikal Bridges Appreciation Day at the @Dbacks 🧢⚾️.’” Instagram, www.instagram.com/p/Ch55-9SphV8/.

“Stone Garrett Minor Leagues Statistics & History.” Baseball, www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=garret000sto.

“Stone Garrett Stats, Fantasy & News.” MiLB.com, www.milb.com/player/stone-garrett-656448.

“Torey Lovullo Managerial Record.” Baseball, www.baseball-reference.com/managers/lovulto01.shtml.

Weiner, Alex. “D-Backs Finish Largest Comeback in Team History in Corbin Carroll's Debut.” Arizona Sports, 30 Aug. 2022, arizonasports.com/story/3276082/d-backs-finish-largest-comeback-in-team-history-in-corbin-carrolls-debut/.