D-backs Fast-Tracking Corbin Carroll's Return From Broken Wrist

Arizona Diamondbacks star right-fielder Corbin Carroll suffered a chip fracture in his right wrist on June 18 in Toronto when getting hit by a pitch. He was placed on the injured list on June 24 and it seemed like he was likely out at least a month.

At the time manager Torey Lovullo said it would be weeks, not days.

In recent days, Carroll's timeline has been pushed up. Dramatically. Earlier this week, Lovullo said Carroll would be taking dry swings (no impact with the baseball), but in fact Carroll hit balls in the cage and then took batting practice.

On Thursday afternoon Lovullo said that Carroll would take live batting practice off of rehabbing reliever Kendall Graveman on Friday.

Then later Thursday afternoon, the Diamondbacks' transactions logs showed Carroll as having been placed on the D-backs' Arizona Complex League roster to participate in a rehab game Thursday night.

Carroll played in a game, getting four plate appearances. He grounded out to second base, flew out to left, and drew two walks, one intentional. Following the Diamondbacks' game, Lovullo was asked about the the change in plans and what it means going forward.

"Actually, it happened after I met with you [Thursday afternoon]," Lovullo explained.

"I went out for BP. I saw him in the cage and hitting off [the Trajekt simulator] and he was lighting the ball up. He made a couple of comments, walked by me, sat with the trainer for a second. He said, 'Do you mind if I play in the ACL game tonight?'"

Lovullo expressed great surprise at this development, as he was not expecting that. He made sure to apologize as he did not want those in the media to think he misled them in any way. The conversation quickly turned to what this means going forward.

"So we're not going to hold Corbin back. This is a pain tolerance, a pain threshold thing, and I told you guys there was a chance [of him coming back before the All-Star game]. If I was a betting man, knowing what Corbin can do and what he wants to do, he wants to get out there and help his team win baseball games."

As of right now, Carroll is still scheduled to take live at-bats off of Graveman at 10:30 a.m. Friday. Whether or not he'll play again tomorrow in the Complex League is not yet determined according to Lovullo.

"I'm going to strongly discourage him from playing a doubleheader. One game and the live BP and back-to-back days might be enough for me, but I wouldn't be surprised if Corbin came into my office and said that's what he wants to do. That's his mindset," Lovullo said.

Whether or not Carroll could make it back at some point over the weekend in the series against the Royals was not something Lovullo could address. He said it's up to the training staff to set that return date, and he just doesn't know what that is at this time.

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