Baseball’s top ‘triple threat’ is speeding his way toward more history

If you’re playing against Corbin Carroll, you don’t want to see his “funny face.”

“The faces that he makes when he's rounding second, going for third, are pretty funny,” D-backs designated hitter/first baseman Pavin Smith told MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert last year. “Then, he slides into third and it's just back to just a straight face.”

If Carroll is making a funny face, it means he's making good on a threat -- a “triple threat.”

Carroll is leading the Majors with six triples so far this season, and if he finishes the 2026 campaign with the most triples in baseball, it’ll be the third straight season he’s done that -- and fourth consecutive time leading the National League.

To put that into context, the last player to lead the AL or NL in triples in three consecutive seasons prior to Carroll was Carl Crawford of the Devil Rays from 2004-06. Before Carroll, the last player to lead the Majors in triples in even back-to-back seasons was the Mets' José Reyes from 2005-06.

If Carroll finishes atop the MLB triples leaderboard again this year, he will be the first player in history to pace the Majors (including ties for the Major League lead) in three consecutive seasons.

If he leads the NL for the fourth consecutive year, he’ll be the second player in AL/NL history to lead his league for four straight years (also Lance Johnson of the White Sox from 1991-94).

Not only is Carroll on pace for history, but he’s doing it in an incredibly fun way. When Carroll hits a ball that would be a double for almost anyone else, he’s thinking three bags out of the box and truly turns on the jets around second base when he smells a triple.

It’s a sight to behold, and we’re not just talking about an extra bag thanks to the occasional weird carom off the outfield wall. When Carroll decides it’s triple or bust and his helmet flies off his head, unable to withstand the sheer speed at which its owner is moving, don’t blink.

“I feel like, when I hit second base, it's kind of full go," Carroll told Gilbert after setting the D-backs franchise record with 17 triples in 2025. "Most times you hit a triple, it's to right or right-center, and so you're trying to watch it and judge it as you're running.

“I'm trying to watch [the outfielders] as I'm running, and get an idea of their speed and the speed that they're moving at towards the ball. And then once you hit second base, it's just full gear."

And full gear for Carroll is a place very few can go. In fact, since the beginning of the 2023 season, Carroll owns 14 of the 21 fastest home-to-third times on a triple. The fastest of those came earlier this week, when he raced to third in 10.71 seconds against the Giants.

Carroll is truly the “perfect storm” for triples: Not only is he fast -- his average sprint speed has been in the 96th percentile or higher in each of the past four seasons -- but he is a slugging threat any time he’s at the plate and plays home games in the best venue for triples in the Majors.

According to Statcast park factors, Chase Field has a 205 park factor for triples, meaning the park sees triples at more than twice the average rate. Since the beginning of the 2023 season, there have been an MLB-high 165 triples hit at Chase, more than 100 more than the median Major League ballpark.

In Carroll’s case, 32 of his 49 career triples (65.3%) have come at Chase Field, many of which were right down the right-field line. As he put it: “We just have a good ballpark for it.”

Fastest home-to-third times on triples since 2023

1. Corbin Carroll on May 19, 2026: 10.71 seconds
2. Corbin Carroll on May 18, 2024: 10.76 seconds
3-T. Corbin Carroll on Aug. 27, 2023: 10.83 seconds
3-T. Elly De La Cruz on June 23, 2023: 10.83 seconds
3-T. Elly De La Cruz on June 7, 2023: 10.83 seconds
6-T. Corbin Carroll on Aug. 2, 2024: 10.84 seconds
6-T. Elly De La Cruz on July 28, 2023: 10.84 seconds
8-T. Corbin Carroll on Aug. 26, 2023: 10.85 seconds
8-T. Corbin Carroll on Sept. 28, 2023: 10.85 seconds
10. Corbin Carroll on June 18, 2024: 10.86 seconds

Not only is Carroll the game’s triples king, he’s doing this in an era in which triples are rarer than almost any time in MLB history. The only non-shortened season since 1901 in which there were fewer triples than the 628 hit last year was 1959 (591 triples among 16 teams with a 154-game schedule).

Carroll’s manager, Torey Lovullo, said he never ceases to be amazed by Carroll’s prowess when it comes to power and speed that results in triples.

“I can say that with 100% certainty, there's just so much excitement with everything that he does,” Lovullo said. “You throw in the bat, and then the wheels, and the speed with which Corbin is coming around the bases -- it's amazing for everybody to watch. I'm a baseball fan at that point.”

And Lovullo has some advice for baseball fans who want to get the most out of a Corbin Carroll triple.

In short: Don’t take your eyes off him.

“I'm not gonna lie,” Lovullo said. “Normally, when the ball is hit, I look at the cutoff men first. That's the first thing I want to see: where the cutoff men are going, ours or theirs. But when Corbin hits the ball, the first thing I look at -- ball in the gap -- I look straight to Corbin.

“I suggest everybody try to do that, because it's pretty impressive how fast he can get around the bases.”

MLB.com D-backs beat reporter Steve Gilbert and editor/writer Andrew Simon contributed to this report.