Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Ryan Thompson said his “heart is full” after holiday shopping with a child from A New Leaf on Dec. 17.
Forty children met “personal shopping assistants” — Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll, pitcher Brandyn Garcia, infielder Jordan Lawlar, pitcher Andrew Saalfrank and Thompson, former players and team staff at a Super Target — who also helped them wrap presents.
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Representing A New Leaf was Laura Bode, the chief philanthropy officer. A New Leaf and the D-backs provided each teen with $250 to shop for holiday gifts and essentials.
A New Leaf is committed to “Helping Families, Changing Lives” by addressing some of the most pressing challenges in the community and providing life-changing services to those facing domestic violence, homelessness and other challenges.
Thompson said he makes himself available as much as possible because “the D-backs just do it right. The D-backs do things that spiritually lift us up. I can leave a game dripping sweat; it doesn’t matter. The D-backs Give Back does such a great job. When they asked me to do this, I knew it was going to be a home run. It was an easy ‘yes.’”
Thompson was impressed by the teen with whom he was paired.
“When I was 15, I bought a bunch of movies, headphones and who knows what,” he said with a laugh. He said, ‘OK. I want to make sure that I take care of my mom and my girlfriend. I want to get them presents.’ That just melted my heart.”
The admiration goes both ways. When Thompson was young, he collected autographs. The Oregon native wanted to be around “famous” people.
“Getting an autograph was the coolest thing in the world,” he said. “Then you become one of those people and it hits you: Everyone’s just a human being. I’m just a broken human being like you are. People watch me on TV, but it doesn’t mean I’m anything special. I’m just a person.”
Thompson spent 12 days of his offseason in Israel, walking the story of Jesus and the Old Testament. He was also baptized in the Jordan River and climbed Mount Carmel.
“There was a lot of hiking, a lot of walking, and a lot of teaching of where things were,” he said.
The group stopped occasionally when it approached a teaching spot.”
“One of the things we were taught was what it means to be a Rabbi,” Thompson said. “We were understanding things from a Jewish lens. All the disciples were Jews, and Jesus was a Jew. Jesus was their rabbi. We learned that the disciples would imitate their rabbi every single day. If he walked in a straight line, they would walk in a straight line, too.
“Our tour guide pretended to be our Rabbi. We would have to follow him and do what he did or we’d get in trouble. Rabbis would also teach about things they can smell with their nose or touch with their hands. We learned so many things that made the pages of Scripture jump off the page.”
Thompson is looking forward to Spring Training at Salt River Fields in February. Last season, Thompson and his teammates liked the momentum in which it ended — especially from a bullpen perspective.
“All of our dudes were injured, but we had so many guys step up. I’m looking at [pitcher Brandyn] Garcia, and the big moments that he had coming in,” said Thompson, pointing at his teammate who attended the shopping spree as well.
“He punched out [Shohei] Ohtani and Garcia was nasty against lefties. He was thrust into some huge spots with the season on the line. Here’s this kid, this rookie, he could be a massive piece of this team.
“Our 26-man roster is going to be all guys who have tasted the big moments; not just guys who are riding the pine or sitting in Triple A. They’re all guys who have tasted these big moments. I’m really excited.”
Carroll was all smiles as he helped his partner shop and wrap presents.
“It’s the highlight of the community event in the offseason,” said Carroll, who has been training at Salt River Fields.
“Getting out here and seeing these young kids, young adults, think beyond themselves and shop for their families. It’s something special to see.”
The last few months, he vacationed in Hawaii and traveled to Cabo for outfielder Alek Thomas’ wedding.
He is looking forward to the start of the 2026 season and participating in the World Baseball Classic.
“I’m excited to see what team shows up for Spring Training, in terms of personnel,” he explained. “There are probably a few more moves to be made this offseason. We’ll see what happens there. I’m just excited to get together for the first time.
“I hope to hit the ground running. We have a tougher schedule the first month of the season. I think the goal is for everyone to show up for Spring Training, ready to go, as opposed to using Spring Training to prepare.”
The Diamondbacks kick off their season playing the Los Angeles Dodgers in LA. Early in the season, the snakes face the Detroit Tigers. There has been chatter that Detroit Tigers Cy Young pitcher Tarik Skubal may sign with the D-backs’ rivals, the Dodgers. That’s something that Carroll doesn’t want.
“If he’s not a Dodger, well, we’ll be happy,” he said with a sly grin.
Lawlar returned to the Valley to help the cause.
“My first experience was so good,” said Lawlar, who played ball in the Dominican Republic this offseason. His “shopping partner” bought gifts for his mom, choosing perfume and other items.
“That just touched me and I wanted to serve.”
This was Saalfrank’s first year helping with the shopping spree. His teen was a little shy, so Saalfrank peppered him with questions.
“I think he thought I was annoying,” Saalfrank said with a laugh.
Like his teammates, the reliever is looking forward to a successful 2026 season.
“I think there’s a reason why there is such a high level of success with such a low payroll,” he said. “It’s because we have good people. I am a big karma guy. If you do the right things in life, a lot of the times things come back to you. If it’s on the field, it’s on the field. If it’s off the field, it’s off the field. If it doesn’t happy, it doesn’t happen.
“But we have a really good group of guys. It’s going to be interesting to see what kind of damage we can do early on. We were short last year. We gave away some pieces, but we still made a run at the end.
“I think that speaks to the character of a lot of the guys and the pride we have. Everyone homed in and did their job. I think we put ourselves in a position that maybe we shouldn’t have been in — or other people didn’t expect us to be in. That’s how the year ended, even if it was a shortfall. Imagine what it’s like when you add a couple pieces and reboot the batteries.”
Saalfrank has appeared at other D-backs charity events. At a school visit, a child asked the pitcher about his “longest home run.”
“I’m a pitcher, so it was hard to answer that one,” he said with a laugh. “I think I gave him the farthest home run I’ve given up.”
