Arizona learned again in 2026 that the 26-man roster posted on Opening Day is only the first page of a long season. By the time the Diamondbacks carried their National League Wild Card hopes to the final day, younger players had supplied important innings, at-bats and moments. Ryan Waldschmidt, Jose Fernandez and Gerardo Carrillo each took a different route through the year, but all three left the organization with reasons to expect larger jobs in 2027.
Waldschmidt’s season carried the sharpest swings. Arizona’s top prospect entering 2026, the outfielder had turned heads in camp before beginning the year with Triple-A Reno. The club brought him up May 8 while the offense was searching for a spark, and he supplied one quickly. Nearly three weeks into his Major League stay, Waldschmidt owned a .353/.411/.471 line and had handled center field with confidence.
The league eventually adjusted, as it does with young hitters, and Waldschmidt’s OPS fell to .671 before he was sent back to the Minors on June 15. He returned July 10 and stayed, even if the first-week fireworks did not fully return. His two walk-off home runs helped Arizona remain in the Wild Card picture until the final day, and the more meaningful progress may have come in the quieter stretches.
Farm director Chris Slivka pointed to Waldschmidt’s defensive growth in center as a major development. At the plate, the strikeouts remain an issue Arizona wants to reduce, but Slivka saw a hitter beginning to use the whole field and recognize the ways Major League pitchers were trying to beat him. That growing feel for the pitcher-hitter chess match, Slivka said, should give Waldschmidt a better foundation for next season.
Waldschmidt’s connection to Corbin Carroll will always be part of his story: Arizona used the selection received after Carroll won the 2023 National League Rookie of the Year Award to draft him. In 2027, though, Waldschmidt has a chance to write a more independent chapter. He figures to be a key outfielder, with center and left field both possible landing spots.
A young infielder and a late-arriving arm
Fernandez arrived in the Majors with a much different kind of introduction. The 23-year-old had never played above Double-A and was optioned to Reno early in Spring Training, despite opening eyes in camp. Then Arizona called him up on March 30. One day later, Fernandez went 3-for-4 in his debut, homered twice and hit an eighth-inning go-ahead shot against Kenley Jansen. He became the eighth player in MLB history to hit two home runs in his first regular-season game.
That debut did not remove the normal growing pains. Fernandez was optioned and recalled twice more as opponents gained a book on him. General manager Mike Hazen noted that Carroll is the rare young player who has not needed a Minor League reset, adding that Arizona saw improvements from its young players after they returned from those assignments.
For Fernandez, the route to regular work is helped by his glove. He can cover each of the four infield positions, an especially useful trait over a 162-game schedule. Slivka believes there remains considerable offensive upside because of Fernandez’s ability to strike the ball with authority. The next step is refining his approach, turning his physical tools and powerful frame into steadier production over a fuller run of plate appearances.
Carrillo’s climb took longer. Signed as a Minor League free agent during the offseason, the right-hander finally reached the Majors in late July after eight seasons in the Minors. He was 27 when he debuted, allowing one run over two innings, and then put together an impressive nine-appearance stretch: 14 1/3 innings without an earned run and 18 strikeouts.
The raw material is not in doubt. Slivka described an upper-90s fastball, a cutter that can reach the low-to-mid 90s and a sharp splitter. The issue is command. Carrillo walked 16 hitters, including one intentional walk, in 17 1/3 innings overall. After he was sent down, Arizona worked on his delivery to help him find the strike zone more consistently, and the club felt he began to tighten things up.
With several Arizona relievers expected to leave through free agency, Carrillo has an opening to claim meaningful bullpen work in 2027 if the improved control holds. Waldschmidt, Fernandez and Carrillo are not finished products, and none needs to be. Their 2026 seasons showed the Diamondbacks something more valuable than a clean prospect trajectory: each proved he can absorb adversity, make adjustments and contribute when the big club needs him.
