Corbin Carroll Is Player Of The Month For August

 

While not having a great start in 2024 in the first 3 months of the year in which he had a slash line of .186/.269/.273, which translates dismally to terribly bad, Corbin Carroll is hitting like the all-star of old, the way he was expected to play after a stellar 2023 season when he did become an all-star. He did that in his rookie year, winning the Rookie of the Year Award, and helping the Diamondbacks win their first National League pennant since 2001 when they won the World Series.

In last night’s game, Corbin went 2-5, 2 H, 1 Run, and 1 RBI, leaving his BA at .232 after the loss to the Dodgers. The Diamondbacks had a chance to come closer to the gap between them and the Dodgers, but they collapsed. They lost 3 out of 4 games, putting them behind the San Diego Padres for the lead in the top wild-card spot. They are not in a good spot because of their 3 losses in the best-of-four series to the Dodgers.

Corbin Carroll has an on-base streak of 41 straight starts. But, you would not know that simply by looking at his .232 BA. In the last 10 games, Corbin has been superb, batting .350 with 5 homers, 14 RBIs, 10 runs, and 14 hits. He has been exceeding expectations lately. In his last 20 games, he is batting .312 with 9 homers, 24 hits, 21 RBIs, and scoring 24 runs. If he had played like that early in the year, he would have made the all-star team this year.

His hot month did not go unnoticed at the front desk of MLB. He was awarded NL Player of the Month for August, indicating that despite Shohei's impressive record-setting month, he had a better month than him. The Diamondbacks need every great at-bat of his going forward. As of this moment, The Diamondbacks are playing the chasing game with the San Diego Padres for the top wild-card spot. 

 

Tommy Pham

 

Tommy Pham is noted as a bargain bat in the headlines, but I do not think that is what he is. He is an average hitter with great defensive skills. In 383 plate appearances this season, he has 88 hits, 7 homers, and 40 runs scored. His average of .253 does not tell the entire story. He is hovering at an OPS of .693, just over 50 points below the league average of .750. In 2023, that same stat of On-Base Plus Slugging, a metric combining On-Base % (OBP) and Slugging % (SLG), he was considered above average when his OPS was .774, which would have placed him in the upper percentile. 

Pham has moved teams so many times lately that it is becoming confusing as to what team he plays for. Those who know what team he plays for without checking are fans of him. He has been underestimated and undervalued throughout his career so it is difficult not to root for him.