On Friday night, Arizona Diamondbacks star outfielder Corbin Carroll reached an impressive season milestone.
In the eighth inning, Carroll laced a three-run homer to right field — his 30th homer of the season. That extended his career-high, but also stands as a marker of success across MLB.
Carroll spoke to reporters about the homer, and the increasingly good vibes around a D-backs team that is back to .500 for the first time since July 20.
"I think around baseball, 30 home runs is seen as an accomplishment. I'm kind of happy with hitting that as an accomplishment. I'm excited for the rest of the season, seeing if we can add some more," Carroll said postgame.
"He's just a slug machine," manager Torey Lovullo said. "30 home runs, in my opinion, I felt like that day was going to be coming for him. The second half of last year helped him grow up, and he's just picked up where he leftoff at the end of last year."
"[He] just continues to grow and blossom into one of the best players in baseball, in my opinion. ... I'll put him up against anybody, he's a special player," Lovullo said.
Carroll's speed on the bases is ever-present, too. Despite a slow start to his base-stealing, Carroll is quietly inching closer to his 30th swiped bag, recording his 24th on Friday night and making a 30-homer, 30-steal season even more feasible.
"I feel like I picked up with the running a little bit here recently," he said.
"I'd love to do [reach 30-30]. I think that we've just been doing a good job of picking spots. Some of it's random too. ... I think there's some luck of the draw there as well."
But beyond the numbers, Carroll is growing in more ways than one. The statistical milestones are impressive, but the 25-year-old is no longer the young, inexperienced member of the group.
With so many young players growing up in a roller-coaster 20205 season, Carroll finds himself falling more on the veteran side than the rookie side.
"It's been a little weird looking around and realizing that I'm, at this point, one of the more experienced position players. It was kind of eye-opening for me to think about.
"It was really like two weeks ago. I was sitting on the bus, like, wow. It just wasn't long ago that I was one of the least experienced. It's fun to have that new energy up here," Carroll said.
The star outfielder then compared 2025's feeling to 2023. It's not the first nor the second time a D-backs player has done so recently.
"I kind of feel like, in a sense, it's similar to 2023, where most young players, they don't have expectations or things to compare. It's just very in the moment, and just trying to win every game for what it is. It feels a little similar to 2023 in that way," Carroll said.
More must-reads:
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!