The Diamondbacks outfield is in a state of flux for the 2026 season. They traded two players projected to get playing time in the offseason, Jake McCarthy and Blaze Alexander. With a thin outfield further exacerbated by the Corbin Carroll’s hamate bone injury, the question is what they will do with Alek Thomas.
It appears there is more clarity on Thomas’ role with the club The Arizona Republic‘s Nick Piecoro reports that the Diamondbacks are having Thomas take reps in both left and center field.
The Diamondbacks are moving Jordan Lawlar to a center field role. That, in turn, moves Thomas off his natural center field position. With Carroll potentially sidelined to start the season, there was the possibility that he would take reps in right field. However, Piecoro notes that the team assumes Carroll won’t miss much regular-season time.
Alek Thomas’ 2026 Outlook With the Diamondbacks
Thomas has struggled to hit since his major league debut. In 420 career games, he’s mustered a .234/.277/.362. By measure of FanGraphs’ wRC+ metric, Thomas has been 26% worse than the league-average hitter with a 74 wRC+.
2025 did very little to change the bleak offensive outlook. Thomas was slightly more productive compared to his career, mustering up an 82 wRC+. However, that still significantly lagged behind the league average in center field (93).
One drawing point for playing Thomas has been his center field defense. He was named a Gold Glove finalist in his first two seasons in Arizona. However, his defensive metrics have declined since. In the last two seasons, he’s been worth -8 fielding runs above average and -1 Outs Above Average.
The combination of a poor bat and now a poor glove made Thomas a non-tender candidate. However, the team elected to keep him on a $1.9625 million salary for 2026. With Lawlar taking over in center field, that pushes Thomas to a fourth outfielder role. As a left-handed swinger, that still means playing the strong side of the platoon in both left and center field.
Thomas also provides a backstop to Lawlar and a stopgap in front of top prospect Ryan Waldschmidt. While it’s hard to see him provide enough value with the bat or glove to get his center field job back, other than by default, it’s always a possibility. It happened in 2025, when McCarthy got sent down due to a slump and never won the job back from Thomas.
Diamondbacks Outfield Situation Entering 2026
There are a lot of moving parts with the 2026 outfield. As already mentioned before, Lawlar is getting looks in center field. That way, they can focus on the bat and give him a less challenging defensive assignment.
One dark horse to make the club is Waldschmidt. The consensus Top 100 prospect could sneak into the left field conversation with a strong camp. There may be an experience issue with just one season of minor league play. However, he put together strong numbers in both High-A and Double-A, so he may be ready for the challenge.
Arizona’s outfield depth while Carroll is out includes Jorge Barrosa and Tim Tawa on the 40-man roster. Barrosa seems the likely candidate to fill the gap in right field while Carroll is out. Non-roster invitees such as Kristian Robinson, A.J. Vukovich, and the recently-signed Oscar Mercado could factor into the mix.
It could be messy in the outfield to begin the season. For the first time since the 2023 season, the position is undergoing significant changes. The outfield could look drastically different at the end of 2026 compared to the beginning.
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