Corbin Carroll and Paul Sewald are Bringing The Pacific Northwest to the World Series

With two down in the bottom of the 9th inning in game seven of the National League Championship Series, Arizona Diamondbacks’ closer, Paul Sewald was one out away from sending his team to the World Series. The Snakes led the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 on the back of an incredible performance from their superstar rookie, Corbin Carroll, who tallied three hits and two stolen bases, and had either scored or driven in all four of Arizona’s runs.

The Phillies, a team featuring stars like Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, and Kyle Schwarber, were forced to watch as their World Series dreams sat on the shoulders of Jake Cave, a backup outfielder and first baseman, who had only seen two plate appearances in the playoffs to that point. Sewald dotted the inside corner on a first-pitch fastball to put Cave down in the count 0-1 before missing on his second fastball to even the count. Cave proceeded to foul off three straight fastballs, forcing Sewald to switch things up. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Cave saw his first sweeper, only the second of the 15 pitches Sewald threw that inning, and was way out ahead of it, sending the ball weakly sailing into right field. As the ball flew through the night air, Carroll circled under it to secure the catch, sending the Diamondbacks to their first World Series since they won it all in 2001. In addition to being teammates on a pennant-winning team, Sewald and Carroll are tied together by their love for one place, Seattle.

Before he was one of baseball’s top prospects, a starter in the MLB All-Star Game, and the favorite to take home the National League Rookie of the Year award, Corbin Carroll was just a kid from Seattle who loved baseball. Growing up, he frequently attended Seattle Mariners games at what was then known as Safeco Field, and idolized their star outfielder, Ichiro Suzuki.

When he first stepped onto the campus of Lakeside High School, he was a 5’7” 135 lb freshman, but he immediately played bigger than his size. During Carroll’s four years there, he hit .450 with over 100 RBIs and 22 homers, putting himself on notice to college and pro scouts nationwide. He committed to play college baseball at UCLA as a sophomore, but after adding a couple of inches and over 40 pounds of muscle, he began to be talked about as a potential top pick in the 2019 MLB Draft.

During his senior year of high school, Carroll hit .540 with an OPS over 1.800 while leading Lakeside to a 20-3 record, including an undefeated 15-0 finish in Seattle’s Metro League. His team ultimately lost in the playoffs, but Carroll’s incredible season earned him the title of 2019 Gatorade Washington Baseball Player of the Year. In addition to his high school accomplishments, he also took home a gold medal with Team USA at the U-18 Pan-American Championships in Panama.

That June, the Diamondbacks took Carroll with the 16th overall pick in the MLB Draft. He decided to forego college baseball and signed with the team for $3.7 million. He made his professional debut later that month and finished the season with a .299/.409/.487 slash line across rookie-ball and low-A in the Diamondbacks farm system.

Carroll debuted on MLB Pipeline as their #89 prospect ahead of the 2020 season, but he didn’t get the opportunity to play that year as the minor league season was canceled due to Covid. By the time minor league play resumed a year later, Carroll had climbed to the #47 spot on MLB Pipeline’s prospect rankings. He started that season hot, hitting .435 in seven high-A games before a shoulder injury would end his season in early May. Despite the injury, his hot start was enough to make him MLB Pipeline’s 19th-best prospect ahead of the 2022 season, and he quickly proved them right. As he climbed all the way to AAA, Carroll posted a 1.036 OPS in 93 minor league games. What stood out the most was his added power, as he mashed 24 home runs while still maintaining the speed that had long been a strength of his, swiping 31 bags.

His dominance of minor league opponents was enough to get Carroll called up to the big league squad, and he made his MLB debut on August 29 last year. Starting in right field for the D-Backs, he went 1/5, with a double and two RBIs, as Arizona beat the Phillies 13-7. He finished the season with a .260/.330/.500 slash line over 32 games, and looked like one of the most promising young players in all of baseball.

Before his official rookie season, Carroll was a consensus top prospect in baseball, and the favorite to win NL Rookie of the Year. Despite all the hype, he immediately lived up to it, hitting .309 over his first month. Carroll’s big league breakout helped turn the D-Backs into a legitimate playoff contender, as by the All-Star break they sat 13 games above .500, a situation they hadn’t found themselves in since 2017. With the All-Star Game set to take place in his hometown of Seattle, Carroll was selected as a starting outfielder for the National League, as his .915 OPS had not only solidified him as the favorite for Rookie of the Year but as an MVP candidate as well. While the D-Backs faltered down the stretch, finishing the season with a 32-39 record during the second half, they still finished a game above the Chicago Cubs to secure the NL’s final wild card spot. One player that made a difference for them across that second half was a trade deadline addition, closer Paul Sewald, who came to Arizona in a trade with the Seattle Mariners.

A 10th-round pick in the 2012 MLB Draft out of the University of San Diego, Sewald slowly crawled his way through the New York Mets’ farm system before making his MLB debut in 2017 at the age of 26. After spending four years bouncing between AAA and the majors, never earning a full-time role in the Mets’ bullpen, the team decided to part ways with him after the 2020 season.

In January 2021, Sewald signed a minor league contract with the Mariners and was assigned to their AAA affiliate, the Tacoma Rainiers, to start the season. He allowed no runs in his first two appearances with the Rainiers before being called up to Seattle and making his debut with the team on May 16, striking out four batters in two scoreless innings of relief. With Seattle, Sewald experienced a career renaissance at 31 years old, as he was finally given a consistent role and was able to flourish as one of the most important arms in their bullpen. He finished the 2021 season posting a 3.06 ERA with 104 strikeouts over 64.2 innings while recording a career-high 11 saves as the Mariners barely missed out on the playoffs with their first 90-win season since 2003.

Heading into the 2022 season, Sewald had established himself as the Mariners’ closer and helped the team reach their first playoff appearance in over 20 years, setting new career bests with a 2.67 ERA and 20 saves. He had become a key piece in Seattle’s return to playoff baseball, with his energetic strikeout celebrations and heart gesture to the centerfield camera after recording saves becoming staples of Mariner wins.

Despite another great season from Sewald, posting a 2.93 ERA with 21 saves, the Mariners found themselves barely sitting above .500, and out of a playoff spot. With a deep bullpen, and their closer’s value never being higher, Seattle decided to flip Sewald to Arizona at the deadline in exchange for bats that could help improve their struggling lineup. The trade was very emotional for him, as Seattle had helped turn his career around and he had grown to love the city and the fanbase. He told Jomboy Media’s Chris Rose that he had to put on sunglasses as he walked through the Sea-Tac Airport, as he kept getting recognized by fans which was causing him to tear up.

After Sewald’s daughter was born in Seattle in 2021, he decided he wanted to give back to the community and fanbase that had welcomed him and his family to their city with open arms. Ahead of the 2022 season, Sewald announced that he and his wife would be donating $200 for every strikeout to the Eastside Baby Corner, a local charity that provides essentials to children and families struggling with economic insecurity.

With the Diamondbacks, Sewald added an additional 13 saves to bring his season total up to 34, the seventh most in baseball. With the addition of Sewald, Carroll was able to help propel Arizona to a playoff spot, as he finished the season with an .868 OPS while becoming the first rookie to ever record 25 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season.

So far in the playoffs, Sewald and Carroll’s contributions have been essential to the Snakes. Sewald has been able to shut down opposing offenses late in games, tossing eight scoreless innings while recording six saves across Arizona’s three series so far. Carroll, meanwhile, has slashed .295/.396/.455 and had one of the best games of his career with the D-Backs season on the line in game seven of the NLCS.

As Carroll and Sewald try to bring a World Series title back to the desert for the first time in over 20 years, they’ll have more than just the state of Arizona rooting them on. Thanks to their Seattle connections, they’ll have the Pacific Northwest behind them as well.