NL Rookie Of The Year Odds: Carroll Favored To End Diamondbacks’ Drought

Diamondbacks Look to Make History

Baseball betting fans will remember that Arizona Diamondbacks have had some great players in their history, led by Hall of Fame-caliber pitchers Randy Johnson (he’s in Cooperstown) and Curt Schilling (his off-the-field issues are keeping him out so far) and former first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, the 2022 National League Most Valuable Player with the St. Louis Cardinals.

However, what the Diamondbacks have never had in their 25-year history is a Rookie of the Year Award winner. Arizona is the only active franchise without one. By comparison, the NL West rival Los Angeles Dodgers have a record 18 winners dating back to their Brooklyn days.

Arizona’s ROY drought could end this season as outfielder Corbin Carroll is the +300 favorite for NL Rookie of the Year at the best online sportsbook sites.

Carroll One of MLB’s Fastest Players

The 22-year-old Carroll was the No. 16 overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft out of a Seattle-area high school. Online sports betting fans will know that a few players from that draft already made impacts in the majors, led by Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah (the No. 11 overall pick and a 2022 All-Star), Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman (No. 1 overall), Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (No. 2) and White Sox outfielder/DH/first baseman Andrew Vaughn (third).

Carroll started off last year with Double-A Amarillo and moved up to Triple-A Reno on July 9 and hit a combined .303 between those levels. He was a September call-up for Arizona and in 104 at-bats hit .260 with four homers, 14 RBIs and two stolen bases. In addition to those numbers, Carroll has astounded with his league-leading 30.7 feet/second sprint speed.

The cutoff to stay a rookie is 130 previous big-league at-bats. Carroll, the franchise’s 2022 Minor League Player of the Year, should be the team’s everyday left fielder and leadoff hitter from the get-go in 2023.

MLB.com ranks Carroll as the No. 2 overall prospect in the sport (with the highest grade of 80 possible as a runner) behind Orioles infielder Gunnar Henderson, who is the AL Rookie of the Year favorite. The Diamondbacks hold Carroll’s rights at least through the 2028 season but are already looking to potentially extend him to buy out a few years of arbitration and free agency down the road.

Current NL Rookie of the Year Odds

With the MLB season fast approaching, our top recommended sportsbooks are already announcing sports betting odds for the Rookie of the Year race.

New York Mets pitcher Kodai Senga (+500), Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker (+600), Dodgers infielder Miguel Vargas (+650), Rockies infielder Ezequiel Tovar (+700) and Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez (+700) round out the favorites. Colorado has had just one ROY winner, Jason Jennings in 2002.

Even though he’s 30 years old, MLB still considers the Mets’ Senga a rookie because he hasn’t played outside of Japan previously. He spent 11 seasons in the Nippon Professional Baseball organization, all for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks. Last year, he had a 1.89 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP over 148 innings for the Hawks. The Dodgers’ Vargas could be an Opening Day starter following the offseason departures of Trea Turner and Justin Turner in free agency.

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