Should Jake McCarthy Bat Leadoff for the Diamondbacks?

Corbin Carroll has been the Diamondbacks leadoff or number two hitter in the lineup for 41 of the Diamondbacks 54 games. For a brief stretch between April 24th and May 4th he batted either 7th or 8th for a total of ten games. His placement in the order has made no positive impact on his overall numbers.

Corbin Carroll batting order splits | Jack Sommers

Carroll's season to date slash line of .184/.269/.279 makes him a drag on the lineup no matter where he is hitting in the order. The negative impact of his sophomore slump is magnified by being in the top two spots in the order however.

It's understandable that Torey Lovullo would be hesitant to yank his young star up and down the order. Carroll had a few good games in early May, prompting Lovullo to "migrate" Carroll back towards the top of the order. That was premature however.

The unfortunate fact is Carroll does not appear to be close to reliably pulling out of his sophomore slump. His problem handling fastballs persists. Until he figures that out, Carroll should be dropped down the order, and should stay there until he shows sustained improvement.

There is a perfectly viable alternative in Jake McCarthy, who is capable to provide a reasonable on base percentage at the top of the order and help set the table. For his career McCarthy has an almost equal split against both left and right hand pitchers. See table below.

Jake McCarthy career L/R splits | Jack Sommers

It should be noted that in 2024 McCarthy has a strong reverse split, going 9-21, .429 BA against left hand pitching. That sample size is extremely small however. In fact, even his career total of 234 PA against lefties is not a large sample size. It typically takes at least 500 PA for a platoon split to stablize. Reverse splits are very rare, and should not be expected.

That said, with the current state of affairs in the Diamondbacks lineup, where hitters are slumping top to bottom, the team needs to shake things up and provide a better chance at the top of the order. Unfortunately that just isn't likely to come from Carroll.

McCarthy also provides the speed teams typically look for at the top of the order. Despite getting picked off a couple o times earlier in the season, the speedy McCarthy is a prolific, high percentage base stealer when given the opportunity. He has 57 career steals with just 10 caught, for an 85% success rate.

One other point of note. Switch hitter Ketel Marte has been in the leadoff spot 29 times this year, and hit second 15 times. There is usually some ebb and flow from year to year in Marte's platoon split. Some years his left-hand swing is better than others. But generally, he has always been better from the right side.

Ketel Marte career platoon splits | Jack Sommers

This year Marte is crushing left-hand pitching to the tune of .313./.361/.663 with seven homers in 86 PA. His left-hand swing has not been nearly as productive however. He's batting .244/.291/.378 against right-hand pitchers.

Lovullo often moves Marte to the top of the order against left-hand pitching, but he would get a few more RBI opportunities in the second spot in the order, and may be better off just staying there, especially with the steady McCarthy in the leadoff spot against either left or right hand pitching.

In conclusion, The Diamondbacks should drop Corbin Carroll down the order and have him stay there until he has shown that he has made the adjustments needed. Jake McCarthy is a viable alternative in the leadoff spot due to his consistency against both left and right pitchers. Ketel Marte should remain in the number two spot in the order to increase RBI opportunities.