Henderson, Carroll unanimous rookies of year
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Jeff Passan, ESPN
Five years after they played together in a showcase of the best high school baseball players in America, Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll and Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson won the Rookie of the Year Award on Monday, only the fifth time both leagues’ winners have been unanimous.
Because both started the season in the major leagues and were ranked among the top 100 prospects in baseball, their teams will receive an additional first-round pick in 2024 as part of the Prospect Promotion Incentive that the players’ union pushed for in collective-bargaining negotiations to discourage service-time manipulation.
Carroll, 23, is expected to finish high in National League Most Valuable Player voting that will be revealed Thursday after he hit .285/.362/.506 with 25 home runs and 54 stolen bases, the second most in the major leagues behind NL MVP favorite Ronald Acuna Jr.
The 22-year-old Henderson, who helped lead the Orioles to a 101-61 season and American League East title, rode a combination of power and smooth defense to the award and became the Orioles’ first Rookie of the Year since Gregg Olson in 1989.
Cleveland Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee finished second — and, in doing so, received a full year of service time despite debuting in late April — and Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas was third. New York Mets right-hander Kodai Senga took second in the NL, with Los Angeles Dodgers James Outman locking down third.
The last time both Rookies of the Year took 30 of 30 first-place votes was 2017, when New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge and Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger won the awards. The other seasons with two unanimous winners were 1997 (Boston’s Nomar Garciaparra and Philadelphia’s Scott Rolen), 1993 (California’s Tim Salmon and Los Angeles’ Mike Piazza) and 1987 (Oakland’s Mark McGwire and San Diego’s Benito Santiago).
Carroll led off and Henderson hit sixth in the Under Armour All-American Game, played July 20, 2018, at Wrigley Field, on a team that also included Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe. Carroll went 2 for 3 with a run scored, and Henderson was 1 for 3 with a pair of RBIs.
“So many of the young, exciting players in our league happened to be from that year,” Carroll said. “I’m fans of them as well.”
With 6.0 FanGraphs wins above replacement, Carroll turned in one of the 10 most productive rookie seasons in the last half-century — no surprise to Arizona, which locked Carroll up to an eight-year, $111 million contract in spring training after he had excelled in 115 plate appearances during his debut late in the 2022 season.
The Diamondbacks snuck into the NL playoffs with 84 wins this year and ousted Milwaukee, Los Angeles and Philadelphia on the way to the World Series, where they lost to the Texas Rangers in their first appearance in more than two decades.
Carroll, a first-round draft pick in 2019, took pride in adding another pick — and the corresponding bonus-pool money of around $2.5 million — to the Diamondbacks’ coffers with the award.
“That’s probably what brought the most weight to chasing something like this for me,” he said. “Not for the personal fame or attention but that ability to benefit my team. I’m hoping to be here long enough where that draft pick is hopefully a star player on the Diamondbacks alongside me. Just being able to reward the front office’s belief in me in this way is really special.”
The last unanimous winner in the NL was Bellinger, and Carroll is the 14th since Rookie of the Year became an official award in 1949.
Senga, 30, thrived in his first MLB season after 11 years with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in Nippon Professional Baseball. With his baffling Ghost Fork, a split-fingered fastball that disappears from the strike zone as it approaches the plate, Senga was one of the few bright spots for a Mets team that faltered.
The 26-year-old Outman is the latest Dodgers development success story, holding down center field and hitting .248/.353/.437 with 23 home runs, 70 RBIs and 16 stolen bases.
Henderson debuted toward the end of the 2022 season, falling just 14 at-bats shy of exhausting his rookie eligibility. He had rocketed through Baltimore’s system after signing for $2.3 million as a second-round pick out of high school in Selma, Alabama.
After spending most of the first half of the season as Baltimore’s third baseman, Henderson shifted to shortstop — his natural position — and paired with Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman to form perhaps the best young duo in baseball.
A wrist injury hindered Henderson over the first month, but he healed and illustrated why he entered the year, like Carroll, as the betting favorite for the award.
“It all worked out,” Henderson said.
Among shortstops, only Corey Seager and Francisco Lindor — both of whom have contracts of $325 million or greater — hit more home runs than Henderson’s 28. Henderson also drove in 82 runs and scored 100.
“We got a taste of it being in the [ALDS],” Henderson said. “Just to hear the crowd’s energy for that, I’d love to experience that, especially at Camden Yards.”
Henderson was the 13th unanimous selection in AL history and the first since Seattle’s Kyle Lewis in 2020.
The 24-year-old Bibee, who joined the Guardians in late April, finished the season 10-4 with a 2.98 ERA — the fourth lowest in the AL among starters with at least 140 innings. A fifth-round pick in the 2021 draft, Bibee joined right-hander Gavin Williams and left-hander Logan Allen as one of the best trios of rookie starting pitchers on one team in baseball history. Bibee received 20 second-place votes and appeared on 27 of 30 ballots.
Casas, 23, beat a crowded field for third place. His 24 home runs ranked second behind Henderson among AL rookies, and his .367 on-base percentage was behind three Minnesota Twins: Edouard Julien, Royce Lewis and Matt Wallner. Casas beat out Rangers third baseman Josh Jung for third place.
Henderson and Carroll will receive $750,000 for winning the award as part of the pre-arbitration bonus pool in the CBA. Bibee will get $500,000 for his second-place finish, while Senga will not receive a bonus because he was previously a professional in Japan.
Others who received votes in the AL included Houston Astros catcher Yainer Diaz, Boston outfielder Masataka Yoshida, Julien and Volpe, who won the Gold Glove last week.
Others receiving votes in the NL: Colorado outfielder Nolan Jones, who was just three points behind Outman and had the most third-place votes with 11; Cincinnati‘s Matt McLain and Spencer Steer; and Miami‘s Eury Perez, Cincinnati’s Elly De La Cruz and San Francisco‘s Patrick Bailey, each of whom received one third-place vote.
Seven of eight first-round series in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs have begun, and No. 8 gets rolling on Tuesday.
The Battle of Florida between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers begins anew (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), with both clubs looking like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender if they can survive the intrastate showdown.
Cats-Bolts is the third game of four Tuesday on the ESPN family of networks, following New Jersey–Carolina (6 p.m. ET, ESPN) and Ottawa–Toronto (7:30 p.m., ESPN2), and preceding the nightcap, Minnesota–Vegas (11 p.m. ET, ESPN).
What are the key storylines heading into Tuesday’s games? Who are the key players to watch?
Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, recaps of what went down Monday night, and the Three Stars of Monday Night from Arda Öcal.
Matchup notes
New Jersey Devils at Carolina Hurricanes
Game 2 (CAR leads 1-0) | 6 p.m. ET | ESPN
Game 1 sure did not go as planned for the Devils. A win at the legendarily loud Lenovo Center would’ve been stretching it, but losing Brenden Dillon, Cody Glass and Luke Hughes to injury was not an ideal outcome either.
They’ll hope to rebound Tuesday before the series shifts to Newark. Closing the shot attempt differential might help, as the famously possession-savvy Hurricanes held a 45-24 edge on shots on goal in Game 1.
For years, the knock on Carolina was that it lacked that one goal scorer who could get the Canes over the hump in the playoffs. Many observers thought the Canes had acquired such a player in Mikko Rantanen in January. Ironically, it was the player Carolina acquired in its subsequent trade of Rantanen to Dallas — Logan Stankoven — who scored two goals in Game 1. Will he add to that total in Game 2?
Of note heading into Tuesday’s game, the Devils have come back to win a playoff series after losing the first game 11 out of 26 times (42%); that figure drops to 20% if they fall behind 0-2. The Hurricanes have won six of their past seven series after winning Game 1.
Ottawa Senators at Toronto Maple Leafs
Game 2 (TOR leads 1-0) | 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN2
The atmosphere was intense for Game 1, and the Maple Leafs’ “Core Four” led the way: Mitch Marner (one goal, two assists), William Nylander (one goal, one assist), John Tavares (one goal, one assist) and Auston Matthews (two assists) each filled up the scoresheet. A continuation of that output will obviously help Toronto overwhelm its provincial neighbor.
Slowing down the Maple Leafs could depend on discipline, according to Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk. “We took too many penalties, they scored on [them] and that’s the game,” Tkachuk told reporters after Game 1. “So that’s on us. We’ve got to be more disciplined.”
The Sens will also need to capitalize on their chances. According to Stathletes, Ottawa had five high-danger scoring chances in this game, and produced only two goals.
Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning
Game 1 | 8:30 p.m ET | ESPN
This is the fourth time that the two Sunshine State franchises have met in the postseason, and all four of the meetings have occurred since 2021.
In each instance, the winner of the series has gone on to reach the Stanley Cup Final — Lightning in 2021 and 2022; Panthers in 2024 — while the 2021 Lightning and 2024 Panthers won it all.
Unsurprisingly, Nikita Kucherov is Tampa Bay’s leading scorer against Florida, with 25 points (five goals, 20 assists) in 15 games. Aleksander Barkov is the Panthers’ leading scorer against the Lightning, with 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in 15 games.
The two teams split their meetings in the regular season, with the Lightning winning the most recent, 5-1 on April 15.
Minnesota Wild at Vegas Golden Knights
Game 2 (VGK leads 1-0) | 11 p.m. ET | ESPN
The underdog Wild set a physical tone to the series in Game 1, outhitting the Golden Knights 54-29, but the hosts emerged with a 4-2 victory. Tomas Hertl, Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden (two) were the goal scorers for Vegas, and Matt Boldy was responsible for both Minnesota goals.
Howden, who had never scored double-digit goals until his 23 this season, earned praise from coach Bruce Cassidy after Game 1. “He didn’t change his game,” Cassidy told reporters. “He played physical. He’s part of our penalty kill. He’s always out when the goalie’s out, typically one of the six guys we use a lot because of his versatility. He can play wing. He can take draws as a center. He’s been real good for us all year and good again tonight.”
Sunday’s game was the NHL debut for 2024 first-round pick Zeev Buium, who just finished his season with the University of Denver. He played 13 minutes, 37 seconds and finished with one shot on goal.
Arda’s Three Stars of Monday
The greatest goal scorer in NHL history just keeps finding the back of the net. He had two goals, including the overtime winner, as the Caps take Game 1 3-2 despite a valiant third period effort from Montreal to send it to the extra frame.
Connor had the game-winning goal in the third period for the second straight game, as Winnipeg takes both games at home for the 2-0 series lead on the Blues.
Further proof that the Oilers are never out of the game, McDavid helped erase a 4-0 deficit with a goal and three assists, despite the Oilers falling 6-5 late in a thrilling Game 1.
Monday’s scores
Capitals 3, Canadiens 2 (OT)
Washington leads 1-0
Much of the regular season was spent focused on Alex Ovechkin‘s “Gr8 Chase” of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring record, and he scored historic goal No. 895 on Sunday, April 6. It turns out, Ovi likes the spotlight. The Capitals superstar opened the scoring in the game, and bookended it with the overtime winner — his first ever, believe it or not — as the Caps survived a thriller in Game 1, following Nick Suzuki‘s tying goal with 4:15 remaining. Full recap.
1:51
Alex Ovechkin’s OT goal wins Game 1 for Capitals
Alex Ovechkin’s second goal of the game is an overtime winner that gives the Capitals a 1-0 series lead vs. the Canadiens.
Jets 2, Blues 1
Winnipeg leads 2-0
Game 1 between the two clubs was tightly contested until the Jets took over in the third period. That trend took hold again on Monday — the score remained tied into 1-1 the third period, when Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor scored at the 1:43 mark, and the Jets were able to hold the Blues off the scoreboard for the duration. Connor’s linemate Mark Scheifele assisted on the game-winner and opened the scoring, giving him a league-leading five points this postseason. Full recap.
0:40
Kyle Connor scores clutch goal to put Jets ahead in 3rd period
Kyle Connor extends Winnipeg’s lead after a clutch goal early in the 3rd period vs. St. Louis.
Stars 4, Avalanche 3 (OT)
Series tied 1-1
The series that every observer thought would be the closest in the first round didn’t look that way in Game 1, as the Avs ran over the Stars en route to a 5-1 win. Game 2 was much more in line with expectations, as the two Western powerhouses needed OT to settle things. Colin Blackwell was the hero for Dallas, scoring with 2:14 remaining in the first OT period. Full recap.
0:50
Colin Blackwell comes up with big OT winner for Stars
Colin Blackwell sends the Stars faithful into jubilation with a great overtime winner to tie the series at 1-1 vs. the Avalanche.
Kings 6, Oilers 5
Los Angeles leads 1-0
Monday’s nightcap was a delight to those who like offensive hockey and were willing to stay up late. The Kings roared out to a four-goal lead late in the second period before Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl scored to pull within three with six seconds remaining. The two teams traded goals to start the third, before the Oilers notched three in a row to tie up the festivities with 1:28 remaining on Connor McDavid‘s first of the 2025 playoffs. L.A.’s Phillip Danault sent his club’s fans home happy, scoring the pivotal goal with 42 seconds left. Full recap.
0:46
Kings retake lead on Phillip Danault’s goal in final minute
Phillip Danault restores the lead for the Kings with a goal vs. the Oilers in the closing moments.
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