Carroll has McKay's metrics to thank for game-saving catch

MIAMI -- To D-backs first-base coach Dave McKay, the details matter.

Each day, home or road, Arizona outfielders find a sheet of paper on their chairs when they arrive that shows them what their defensive metrics were in the previous game. How good was their first step in going for a ball? What was the catch probability? How much ground did they cover and how long did it take them to do it?

So when right fielder Corbin Carroll raced into the gap in right-center to make a sliding catch in the sixth inning that potentially saved two runs and helped preserve a 3-1 win over the Marlins at loanDepot park on Tuesday night, it wasn't an accident.

Instead, it was the result of a dedicated teacher and a hard-working student coming together.

"He's playing at a very high level right now," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. "And the breaks on balls, we've been watching [him] improve in right field since he's been getting time there every day. It's been elite the way he's chasing down balls and making plays. It was a great play, he got a great break on it and saved the game."

And when Lovullo says the breaks are better, he's not relying on his eyes for that, but rather the data that McKay and the baseball operations staff keep.

"We've been spending a lot of time with jumps, first five feet, first five steps," McKay said. "And the next day after every game, we go over every ball that was hit to him and see his jump, his first five steps to that ball. We have times and we can tell whether it's an average jump, below average or better than average."

Earlier this year, Carroll's jumps would come in as average or below average, McKay said, but now Carroll's worst jumps are average and most are above average.

That doesn't just come with experience or happenstance. Every day, Carroll is out there during batting practice, working on reading balls off the bat and taking the first few steps towards it.

On Tuesday, the D-backs were nursing a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth, but the Marlins were threatening.

Miami had put runners on second and third and with two outs. Reliever Ryan Thompson threw a 94.2 mph fastball that Jesús Sánchez laced to right-center. The ball left the bat at 109.5 mph, which didn't leave Carroll much time to react, but he managed to make a sliding grab to save two runs.

"I was playing him to go to the opposite field with two strikes on him," Carroll said. "He hit the ball in the gap and I got a really good jump on it and gave myself a chance to catch the ball. I'd say it was not a routine play."

In the dugout, leaning up against the rail watching the play, McKay smiled.

"First thing I thought was, I can't wait to see that jump time, because it looked like it was really good," McKay said.

McKay will find out Wednesday whether or not he was right about the jump time and Carroll will have a sheet of paper with the results waiting for him when he arrives at loanDepot park.

"That sheet has been really helpful," Carroll said. "It's a great tool to kind of hold us accountable to a certain standard."