Why is Corbin Carroll batting 7th vs. Yankees?

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks made a lineup change on Friday against the New York Yankees: moving Corbin Carroll down to seventh and pushing Pavin Smith up to fifth.

Carroll has not hit seventh or lower in the batting order since his struggles in 2024.

It was an unorthodox move to drop the team’s lone All-Star hitter down to the bottom third with nine games left in the season and the Diamondbacks fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive.

But Carroll has experienced a difficult second half of the season, and he is hitting .174 with 18 strikeouts in 12 September games entering Friday.

“Corbin’s grinding right now. We all know it,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “He hit that walk-off home run the other day … we know there’s been some really good moments there. But I just, if we’re going to build an inning with the top-shelf guys there, one through four, I’m looking for a little bat-to-ball in certain situations to score some runs.

“Just give him a chance to catch his breath down there, take a little pressure off of him. He wears it as hard as anybody. … I just want him to catch his breath a little bit, switch the deck and see where it takes us.”

Carroll has not hit lower than fifth this season and never started a game hitting below third in 2025.

The Diamondbacks need their stars — Geraldo Perdomo, Ketel Marte and Carroll, in particular —  to perform better over the final three series if this team has an unlikely run to the playoffs in it. Arizona trailed the third NL Wild Card spot by four games entering Friday.

Smith was designated for assignment earlier this season, spent much of the second half in the minor leagues and recently came back up to add a left-handed hitter. Smith is 4-for-12 so far, hitting .167 on the season.

Diamondbacks lineup vs. Yankees

Pushing forward. pic.twitter.com/GVHjY0aBPu

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) September 18, 2026

First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. MST on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app. 

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