Ain’t No Fang podcast: Corbin Carroll says World Baseball Classic was among his biggest goals

PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks star outfielder Corbin Carroll was watching football when he realized he had a missed call and text message from Mark DeRosa, Team USA’s manager for the World Baseball Classic.

Despite leading all National League outfielders in WAR for the 2025 regular season, Carroll wondered if the national team had already been selected.

He could not say yes to the opportunity quickly enough.

“It was honestly one of my biggest goals going into last year, to play well enough to be considered for the team,” Carroll told Arizona Sports’ Ain’t No Fang podcast on Friday.

“I got the honor of doing it in 2018 with (the) U18 team and going to Panama. There really is no greater honor.”

"There really is no greater honor."

Diamondbacks OF Corbin Carroll on what it means to represent Team USA in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

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That 2018 U18 roster featured Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who will join Carroll once again in the WBC. Carroll remembers that experience fondly, excluding some bad orange juice, particularly winning the gold medal and building friendships with fellow future MLB stars.

This time the stage will be even grander, as the trio along with Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh and Paul Skenes will attempt to bring the gold back to the United States after a runner-up finish to Japan in 2o23.

“I think just the energy,” Carroll said is what he’s pumped for. “It’s a different level of passion when you’re talking about nations competing against each other. I remember going to the USA-Mexico game in 2023 at Chase. I was like, ‘Wow, that’d be very cool to be a part of one day.'”

Between the horns blaring and fans chanting, Chase Field was rocking when the United States took on Mexico in group play in 2023, and the tournament could not have ended on a more dramatic note. Japan’s Shohei Ohtani struck out his Angels teammate Mike Trout to win the championship, as the best player of one era bested another.

With Carroll, Witt, Crow-Armstrong, Judge and Raleigh in the lineup, the United States has built quite a core for March with the rest of the roster to be announced.

Team USA starts its tournament against Brazil on March 6 in Houston, with exhibition games in Arizona leading up to the tournament.

Corbin Carroll hoping to see continued growth from Diamondbacks

Carroll is routinely at Salt River Fields preparing for the 2026 season, and he credited the Diamondbacks for having what he called great turnout this offseason. Some players continue to get game reps in other leagues, like Jordan Lawlar in the Dominican Republic and Yilber Diaz in Venezuela, while many others stick around to work at the spring training complex.

“I think the person, honestly, I’m most impressed with is (assistant pitching coach) Owen Dew,” Carroll said. “I mean, that guy is living in the facility and it’s cool to see coaches same as us, right? I think the coaching staff on the pitching side would also say we weren’t content with the season we had. Just to see that, I’ll say that phrase like pulling on the same rope, everyone’s just working.”

Carroll said what he wants to see and is expecting to see from his team when spring training begins is a group of players who are already ready to go.

He complimented a younger clubhouse for playing with urgency over the final two months of the season to climb back into playoff contention. The Diamondbacks leaned on their stars with Carroll, Geraldo Perdomo, Ketel Marte and Zac Gallen playing very well down the stretch, but the breakout of Blaze Alexander and improved defense down the stretch were factors in the improved results.

Carroll said there is a natural urgency for young players looking to prove themselves and felt that injection of energy rubbed off.

“You hope to see continued growth on that front and just people continuing to learn and better themselves,” Carroll said is the desired culture in 2026.

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