The MLB season is only a couple months old, but Corbin Carroll has already emerged as the clear favorite to win National League Rookie of the Year.
The Diamondbacks outfielder has +110 odds to become the first player in franchise history to win the award, according to DraftKings.
Carroll is slashing .290/.376/.595 with an OPS of .895 and an OPS+ of 144. He is a plus defender and has a WAR of 2.0 this season, which is tied for 31st in the majors.
Carroll has played a big role in the Diamondbacks’ hot start. They enter play on Thursday with a 33-23 record, which is tied for second-best in the N.L. and only a half-game behind the Dodgers.
From the outset of the season Carroll was expected to be in the Rookie of the Year race, but was expected to have competition from the likes of Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker and Mets pitcher Kodai Senga.
Walker was demoted by St. Louis in late-April and remains in Triple-A, while Senga has been good but not great for New York.
The rest of the field has longshot odds, though someone certainly has the potential to get hot and push Carroll for National League Rookie of the Year.
Here are the odds of the top-7 candidates for the award, per DraftKings on June 1:
- Corbin Carroll +110
- Francisco Alvarez +600
- James Outman +700
- Elly De La Cruz +1600
- Eury Perez +2500
- Kodai Senga +2500
- Matt McLain +2500
Alvarez has shown both power and defensive prowess behind the plate for the Mets, and could continue his surge if the offense doesn’t tail off.
Outman got off to a blazing start and actually surpassed Corbin as the favorite at one point, but a prolonged slump has resulted in decreasing odds to win the award.
De La Cruz is a top prospect for the Reds who hasn’t even played in the majors this season but has the fourth-best odds based on the potential of a monster stint in Cincinnati once he’s called up.
While there are some good players on the list, it’s easy to see why Carroll is the leader. He was widely seen as one of the best prospects in Major League Baseball the last couple of years and has lived up to the hype.
He plays a premium position, can hit and field, and there is nothing fluky about what he’s done so far. If Carroll keeps this up, his hold on the National League Rookie of the Year Award will just get tighter, which could make this a good time to wager on him.
The odds across the board are close among sportsbooks, although BetMGM has Carroll at +130, which constitutes the best current value for those looking to bet on him for National League Rookie of the Year.
Here is the list of the rest of the candidates to win the award, all of whom are major longshots:
- Brett Baty +3000
- Spencer Steer +3000
- Miguel Vargas +3000
- Casey Schmidt +3500
- Bobby Miller +5000
- Matthew Liberatore +5000
- Dominic Fletcher +5000
- Matt Mervis +6000
- Mark Vientos +6000
- Christian Encarnacion-Strand +6500
- Jordan Walker +7500
- Brandon Pfaadt +7500
- Brice Turang +7500
- Joey Wiemer +7500
- Blake Sabol +7500
- Ji-hwan Bae +8000
- Eguy Rosario +10000
- Noelvi Marte +10000
- Brennen Davis +10000
- Sal Frelick +10000
- Michael Busch +10000
- Ryan Pepiot +10000
- Kyle Harrison +10000
- Ezequiel Tovar +10000
- Hayden Wesneski +10000
- Brenton Doyle +10000
- Gavin Stone +10000
- Andrew Painter +150000
- Jared Shuster +15000
- Quinn Priester +15000
