Corbin Carroll's 2026 Down Season Was Still Better Than You Think

Corbin Carroll has set a high standard for himself ever since he arrived as the future star of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2022.

He's been no stranger to slumps, but he's also played at such a consistently-high level that evaluations can get skewed when he's not playing like a top superstar in baseball.

2026 was an odd one for Carroll, and likely led to a bit of frustration from fans, at times. But despite a bit of a down season, the fact is Carroll remained a high-impact player in more ways than one, for a team that finished 10 games over .500 and contended for a playoff spot until the final weekend.

Corbin Carroll's down year

Carroll came into 2026 with a career OPS of .832. That came with an average of just over 27 home runs per 162 games and an average of 5.1 Baseball-Reference WAR per that same distance.

His career OPS+ was 127, or 27% above the league average. He came with two All-Star appearances, a Silver Slugger Award, a unanimous NL Rookie of the Year nod and a scattering of MVP votes.

His 2026 season fell short of those trends. There's no denying that.

Carroll hit .239/.328/.467 in 2026 for a .795 OPS. That was his lowest since 2024, where he spent much of the year battling a sophomore slump. He hit 22 home runs and stole a career-low (for a full season) 21 bases. He hit just .202 from July to the end of the season.

And yet, those numbers still add up to a very, very valuable player.

Corbin Carroll's 2026 was better than you think

It's fair to say Carroll's swing looked off in the latter half of the season. He battled physical issues throughout the year and no player is immune to poor stretches. Was it a bit concerning to watch him strike out 151 times in 2026? Certainly.

But with that said, Carroll also tied a career-high in triples with 17, which led baseball. He tied a career-best with 73 walks. Even his 21.9% strikeout rate was a slight tick better than 2025, during which he posted an OPS of .883.

His 120 OPS+ was still 20% better than league average. His +9 Baserunning Run Value led all of baseball — for the fourth straight season.

He set a career best in doubles (33), recorded his second-most RBI in a season (78), and became the first player to reach 50-plus triples, 100-plus homers and 100-plus stolen bases during the first 650 games of his career. Willie Mays is the only other player to do so in under 700 games.

On top of the batting accomplishments, Carroll played strong right field defense. He was worth +12 Defensive Runs Saved, +4 Fielding Run Value and +10 Outs Above Average. That earned him a finalist berth for the NL right field Gold Glove Award.

In total, Carroll was worth an average WAR (between FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference) of 4.55. That was good for third place among D-backs players, trailing only Gabriel Moreno (6.05 aWAR) and Geraldo Perdomo (5.05 aWAR).

In short: Carroll was the third-most-valuable Diamondback by WAR; his hitting numbers were not close to the worst of his career, and his defense was excellent. This is still a superstar.