Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll is progressing ahead of schedule after surgery for a broken right hamate bone. The injury occurred on February 10, and Carroll underwent surgery the next day. He aims to return for the March 26 opener at Dodger Stadium.
Fans of the Arizona Diamondbacks have faced numerous injuries over the past 12 months, but there is positive news regarding outfielder Corbin Carroll. He suffered a broken right hamate bone on February 10 and had surgery on February 11, raising questions about his availability for Opening Day.
Despite the setback, Carroll's recovery is trending positively. Less than 24 hours after surgery, he returned to camp, focusing on throwing and exercises that avoided using his right hand. He then progressed to one-armed swings in the batting cage to strengthen his back arm and improve his swing mechanics.
"I think I'm someone who tends to be a little bit more front-arm dominant [with my swing]," Carroll said. "And so just using it as an opportunity to kind of build up this back arm and work on how I'm entering the zone. I think that that was kind of the goal."
Recently, Carroll has started hitting with both hands, beginning with low-intensity drills like flips and tee work. "Starting to start to build up there," he said. "It's very low intensity, like flips and tee [work]. I mean, it doesn't feel great. Definitely ahead of schedule. I think some other guys that have gone through a hamate injury were happy to see where I am [given] how far I am out of surgery."
When asked about his readiness for Opening Day, Carroll responded, "Yeah, I'm pushing for it."
On Sunday, he took fly balls, with his hand feeling strong enough to catch. Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo praised his effort: "He's right up to that line of doing too much," Lovullo said. "He's pushing as hard as he can and as far as he can, and we love that. So we'll continue to get updates from [hand surgeon] Don Sheridan and our medical team about what the next steps are, but yeah, he's doing really, really well."
Carroll made swing adjustments before last season but none major this offseason. He had just begun live at-bats when injured. "I feel like the initial starting up of live at-bats and all that, that's kind of your time to start getting dialed in," he said. "I put in a great offseason of work and I think I was in a good spot, but it's just hard to tell until you start battle testing it."