Carroll Hopes to Return for Opening Day? His Response: Working Hard Towards It

Arizona Diamondbacks fans, troubled by injury updates over the past year, can feel somewhat relieved: star outfielder Corbin Carroll's recovery seems promising for the opening game.

Carroll sustained a fracture of the right hamate bone on February 10 (U.S. time) and had surgery the next day, casting uncertainty over his participation in the March 26 away opener against the Dodgers. While it's not yet 100% certain he will be on the Opening Day roster, all signs are pointing in that direction.

Given Carroll's consistently diligent training attitude and history of quick recoveries, the Diamondbacks management has remained optimistic about his chances for the opener. Within 24 hours after surgery, he was back at spring training, beginning throwing and other drills that did not affect his right hand.

Carroll then started one‑arm swing drills in the batting cage. As always, there was a clear purpose behind it. “I might rely more on my lead arm during the swing,” Carroll said. “This is a chance to strengthen the trailing arm and improve my move into the hitting zone. I think that’s the goal.”

Recently, Carroll has begun hitting with both hands on the bat. “Starting to gradually increase the intensity,” Carroll said. “Right now it’s very light—just soft‑toss and tee work. It doesn’t feel fully back yet, but the progress is definitely ahead of schedule. I think other players who’ve had hamate fractures would be happy to see how far I’ve come in such a short time after surgery.”

When asked if he was confident about making Opening Day, Carroll replied, “Yes, I’m working hard toward that.”

Today, Carroll was already able to go to the outfield and catch fly balls, with his hand feeling good enough to handle the catches.

“He’s getting close to that ‘doing too much’ line,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “He’s pushing as hard as he can, and we love that. We’ll continue to get guidance from the hand surgeon and medical staff on the next steps, but yes, he’s doing really well.”

Carroll adjusted his swing before last season and noted he didn’t make major changes this offseason. Before the injury he had just begun facing live pitchers, making it hard to assess where his swing is now. “I feel like those first few days of live batting are when you really start to get into rhythm,” he said. “I had a solid offseason of work and felt good, but without game action it’s hard to say.”