Injury-free Carroll sprints back to action

June 19th, 2024

This story was excerpted from Steve Gilbert’s D-backs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

WASHINGTON -- As the rest of his teammates enjoyed their off-day in Washington on Monday, outfielder Corbin Carroll spent his morning back in Phoenix undergoing an MRI on his left side.

Carroll was removed from the D-backs' 12-5 win over the White Sox on Sunday afternoon after feeling some discomfort on his side while making a throw. Though he was feeling better after the game, the team wanted to make sure that the 2023 NL Rookie of the Year was fully healthy, so he stayed behind to have the MRI.

Not long after the test, Carroll got the word: all looked good and there was no injury to be concerned about.

Carroll then headed over to the team’s Spring Training facility at Salt River Fields to do some throwing and take some swings in the batting cage to make sure he felt good.

“As soon as I got those results back, the combination of that and going over to Salt River and moving around a little bit, taking some swings and throwing a little bit, it was [time to] get me in the lineup,” Carroll said.

Meanwhile, in Washington, manager Torey Lovullo -- who enjoyed his off-day by biking around the city -- got a phone call with the news that his star player was good to go, and that he was headed for the airport to fly across the country to rejoin the D-backs.

Whether or not Carroll was going to be in Tuesday’s lineup was up for debate between Lovullo and Carroll.

“I could have given him the day off,” Lovullo said. “I was trying to give him the day off, but he basically fought his way and said, 'No. I want to play and I'm ready to go. I want to be there for my teammates.' It is who Corbin is.”

For Carroll, it wasn’t even a question of whether he could play. He was healthy and he felt good testing things out. With the D-backs facing the Nationals -- who are just behind them in the NL Wild Card standings -- and the Phillies on this road trip, Carroll wasn’t sitting out.

“This is obviously a Washington team that's right in the hunt,” Carroll said. “We're starting to play some good baseball, and I just want to keep trying to do my best to contribute to it, keep the ship going.”

Carroll is a key part of the D-backs' lineup. The 23-year-old got off to a slow start this year, but he has picked it up recently. Since watching his average dip to .192 on June 4, Carroll put together a 12-game stretch in which he hit .340/.446/.511. That included a 2-for-3 night with an RBI triple and two walks in Arizona's 5-0 win over the Nationals on Tuesday night.

“This team is right in the hunt,” Carroll said. “I feel like you can say that about every team in the National League, but [there's] definitely a desire to contribute to, at the end of the year, having our team be in a good spot and playing some playoff baseball.”