Prospect Primer: National League West

Some prospects are on the verge of stardom, others are entering a crucial phase of their development and others are getting their first tastes of full-season ball. As the 2023 season approaches, MiLB.com goes through each MLB division to take a look at the most intriguing prospects.

Other Prospect Primers:
AL East | AL Central | AL West | NL East | NL Central

Major League-ready: Corbin Carroll, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks
One of the odds-on favorites to claim National League Rookie of the Year honors, Carroll made his Major League debut late in 2022. And with good reason. Baseball's No. 2 overall prospect blitzed Minor League hurlers while posting a 1.035 OPS, 54 extra-base hits, 24 homers and 31 stolen bases in 93 games across two levels, including a two-game rehab stint in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League.

Despite spending just 33 games with Triple-A Reno, where he put up a .943 OPS, Arizona deemed the 22-year-old ready for primetime and he didn't disappoint. Beginning with his first big league hit -- a two-run single on Aug. 29 -- through the end of the season, Carroll displayed the speed, power and athleticism that originally prompted the D-backs to select the Seattle native 16th overall in the 2019 Draft.

"We felt strongly that we wanted him to come up and sort of rip this band-aid off this year, for obvious reasons, both this year and going into next," D-backs GM Mike Hazen told MLB.com at the time.

Corbin Carroll’s first MLB hit is a gapper that gives the @Dbacks the lead! pic.twitter.com/9CETUYVwzn

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 30, 2022

Carroll put together a .260/.330/.500 slash line with 15 extra-base hits, four homers and 14 RBIs in 104 at-bats, good for a 130 wRC+. The D-backs think highly enough of the young outfielder that they signed him to an eight-year contract extension in mid-March that could pay him up to $134 million.

"That human being, I'm convinced, goes to bed every night fixated on how he is going to be a better player the next day, and what he could do to help the organization and the team win," Hazen told MLB.com after the deal.

It's been a meteoric rise for Carroll, who entered 2022 with only 49 professional games on his resume. The cancellation of the 2020 Minor League campaign and surgery to repair tears in his right (non-throwing) shoulder -- suffered while hitting a home run with High-A Hillsboro in 2021 -- cost him all but seven games that season.

Although he only appeared in 142 Minor League games) Carroll appears ready to take his spot alongside the brightest of stars the Majors has to offer.

Homecoming king: Kyle Harrison, LHP, San Francisco Giants
Harrison is slated to begin 2023 with Triple-A Sacramento, a mere 69-mile drive from De La Salle High School in Concord, California, where baseball's top left-handed pitching prospect graduated in 2020. Several weeks later, San Francisco came calling in the third round of the Draft, selecting arguably the most dominant hurler in the Minors last year. Harrison has been brilliant in his first two pro seasons, posting a 2.93 ERA and 1.26 WHIP while striking out 343 in 211 2/3 innings, a rate of 14.6 per nine.

Forget spring break. Ethan Salas, all of 16 years old, took a trip to Major League Spring Training.

The @Padres' No. 3 prospect, who signed for $5.6 million in January, made his Cactus League debut: https://t.co/Ub0WOfjWVZ pic.twitter.com/aNYcmb1oU9

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 12, 2023

Foreign exchange student: Ethan Salas, C, San Diego Padres
While most kids his age are just learning to drive, 16-year-old Salas was behind the plate in a big league Spring Training game. Baseball's top international prospect -- who signed with the Padres in January -- brings immense talent, an incredible pedigree ... and a boatload of expectations into his debut season. Most international signees who are as young as Salas begin their careers in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League, but armed with star-level offensive attributes and defense to match, the backstop is expected to open 2023 stateside in the Arizona Complex League.

Loudest tool: Michael Busch, 2B, Los Angeles Dodgers
Cracking the Dodgers' lineup isn't easy these days, but Busch's time in Hollywood is rapidly approaching. The No. 4 Dodgers prospect cracked the 30-homer plateau in 2022 between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma. Discounting his 10-game pro debut in 2019, Busch jumped straight to Double-A in 2021 and responded with a 20-homer campaign for the Drillers. The 25-year-old was all over the leaderboard last year, topping the Minor Leagues with 118 runs scored while finishing tied for sixth in homers (32), fifth in RBIs (108) and third in extra-base hits (70).

Change of scenery/At the crossroads: Nolan Jones, Colorado Rockies
Jones looked like a rising star for Cleveland after he slugged 34 homers during his first two full Minor League campaigns. But the Pennsylvania native struggled with Triple-A Columbus in 2021, and although he bounced back with an .831 OPS with the Clippers last year and made his big league debut, his potential impact is far less clear. The 24-year-old was dealt to the Rockies in November in a rare prospect-for-prospect swap involving Juan Brito. A Top 100 prospect as recently as 2021, Jones checks in at No. 17 for the Rockies, who optioned him to Triple-A Albuquerque on March 20.