The MLB Draft, June 3-5, is front-loaded with hitters, according to most mock draft creators. With the #32 selection, this year, the Houston Astros have a number of listed players they’ll be taking to their war room, Monday, June 3, with the goal of taking no one position in particular, but the best value available.

Although many point to the toolsy, left-handed-hitting outfielder from Seattle, Corbin Carroll, going to any team in the top 15 positions, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic recently pegged him as a top value pick for the Astros. “The UCLA commit makes up for his smallish stature — he’s listed at 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds — with advanced tools both at the plate and in center field, where he has plus speed,” Kaplan asserts.

He looks to be an easy sign, unless he’s bound and determined to get that UCLA education (a commitment made in his sophomore year to study physiological science), which would be understandable. But, from a baseball perspective, many prep players elect to play college ball to (among other things) enhance their draft position.

If Carroll becomes a first-rounder with anyone, it’s doubtful he’d see the need to play three more years just to possibly position himself a few spots higher, either for the prestige or a few more bonus dollars.

“We’ll see June 3 what happens there and after that I’ll sit down with my family,” Carroll told reporters recently about his draft plans. His father did crew at the University of Washington and Corbin’s mom was born in Taiwan before moving to Louisiana.

“We have some preformed ideas and stuff like that, but I’m not really too concerned about [the draft] right now. I’m not having any sleepless nights. I’m doing what I’ve always done and just trying to enjoy the last few weeks of the year.”

Carroll was born in Seattle, WA, on August 21, 2000, and attended Lakeside School, where he excelled both in the classroom and on the diamond, a five-foot-seven, 135-pound freshman. He’s a left-handed batter and thrower, and spent much of his time in center field, leading off.

While able to play all three outfield positions, his 6.33-second speed in the 60-yard dash all but screams center. Compare that speed with Houston’s Jake Marisnick‘s 2009 dash reading of 6.7 and from the same year Los Angeles Angels’ outfielder Mike Trout‘s 6.5 at New Jersey’s Millville High.

All those times, though, fall short of Astros’ prospect Myles Straw and his pre-draft workout time with Houston in 2015 of 6.25.

But, nit-picking and hair-splitting aside, the 18-year-old is a bona fide speedster, with “one of the best pure bats in the class over the summer after dominating at the plate in every high-profile event he attended,” crowed Baseball America recently.

And, with a “high-profile event” itinerary befitting a touring rock star, Carroll spent just five days at home in the summer of 2018.

“The rest of his break,” according to The Seattle Times, recently, “was spent in Panama, North Carolina, California and elsewhere. He played for a travel team based out of Virginia, another out of Walla Walla and toured with the 18U USA National Team. That’s not including his trip to the Perfect Game All-American Classic at Petco Park in San Diego, where he earned MVP.”

All that may have been missing was a team of roadies and a merch table out front selling t-shirts.

Apparently, this barnstorming summer docket has been routine for Carroll over his past four summers as he shot up national watch lists and MLB draft boards in ways few from Washington, or anywhere for that matter, have.

His Lakeside head coach, Kellen Sundin, used to worry about him, concerned that his star player was missing out on doing teenager-type things. He sat Carroll down to talk about that after his sophomore summer.

“I asked him, ‘Did you even get a summer? Did you see friends? Did you do things you are supposed to do like socially and that stuff?'” Sundin said. “I remembered asking from a point of concern.

“And he was looking at me like I was an idiot. Like, ‘No, Coach, this is what I want to do.'”

At that point, Sundin’s worrying stopped. It was clear that Carroll’s home away from home was on a baseball diamond somewhere. Duly noted: Corbin Carroll is a grinder.

What the Scouts are Saying

Scouts are in general agreement that Carroll’s power is surprising for his size. He hit nine home runs and batted .540 this year for Lakeside, with an OPS of an unheard-of 1.859. As a four-year starter, Carroll combined to hit .450 with 101 RBIs and 22 home runs.

Carroll’s scouting projections followed by projected MLB ratings in parentheses (based on the 20-80 standard scouting scale) look as such:

Hit- 60 (65) Power- 40 (50) Run- 70 (70) Arm- 45 (50) Overall- 55

Back to Baseball America: “[Carroll] has a quick, balanced swing and a terrific feel for the barrel, as well as a keen understanding of the strike zone and a patient approach in the lefthanded batter’s box. Carroll is more than willing to take a walk and then cause havoc on the bases as a plus runner.”

FanGraphs: “Carroll does everything — he’s a 70 runner with a plus arm who projects to plus in center field, has excellent feel for the strike zone, and possesses sneaky power.”

An American League scouting director said recently, “He’s kind of like Alek Thomas (one of the top high school prospects in the nation last year, and a 2018 Arizona Diamondbacks second-round draftee), but I like him better. He grows on you. He can hit the ball farther than you think he can – he’s going to have some power.”

A modern comp some scouts have saddled Carroll with is Andrew Benintendi, the Boston Red Sox’s 5’10”, 170-pound leadoff hitting left fielder.

Any foreseeable drop in draft position for Carroll might be due to teams shying away from the “undersized” outfielder, currently standing at a Benintendi-like stature. Has the Red Sox star and, more to the point, the Astros’ perennial All-Star and hit king, the 5’5″, 160-pound Jose Altuve, taught scouts and front offices nothing?

The Days Ahead

As for the draft and his selection position and potential team, Carroll was predictably cool: “It’s not something that I’m waking up at night thinking about, to be honest. It won’t define me, and even if that happens that’s not where I’m trying to be. That’s just the foot in the door to get in. Nothing is guaranteed.”

Yep. Corbin Carroll is a grinder. Happy and philosophical, maybe, but a grinder nonetheless.