Arizona Diamondbacks All-Star Corbin Carroll injured his shoulder in Thursday night's loss. Now the world waits to see how serious the injury is.
Corbin Carroll has been nothing shy of revelatory in his second season with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The 22-year-old has been a force in the middle of Arizona's lineup and he's on the verge of his first All-Star appearance.
On Thursday, however, everything went south for Carroll and the Diamondbacks. Arizona was trounced 9-0 by the New York Mets: their fourth loss in a row. Arizona's lead in the NL West slipped to less than a game.
To make matters even worse, Carroll exited the seventh inning with a scary shoulder injury.
Carroll hurt his shoulder on a missed swing, immediately exiting the game in pain. It looked bad on the broadcast, only exacerbated by the fact that he experienced discomfort in the same shoulder earlier in the week. But, according to Michael McDermott of Inside the Diamondbacks, there's reason for optimism in the Arizona fanbase.
Corbin Carroll receives positive injury news for Arizona Diamondbacks
"When asked what was positive about the news, Lovullo said that the strength and stability of Carroll's shoulder was fine and they were unable to create any symptoms on physical exams. It was the second time in a week that he was removed from the game with a sore shoulder. They did not do any imaging after the last bout with this issue, but they're going to be more thorough in their testing to get to the bottom of this injury."
The Diamondbacks will conduct an MRI to get the full picture of Carroll's injury, so he's not in the clear yet. That said, any season-ending shoulder tear would have revealed itself straight away. The D'Backs have seemingly dodged a bullet given the stability and functionality of his shoulder in testing.
It would not be surprising if Carroll misses the Diamondbacks' final three games before the All-Star break. His availability for the All-Star game on July 11 — where he's slated to start alongside Ronald Acuña Jr. and Mookie Betts in the outfield — is also up in the air. It would be a particularly strong bummer if Carroll can't suit up, as the game will take place in his home town of Seattle.
Carroll is slashing .290/.365/.559 at the plate with 18 home runs, 46 RBIs, and 24 stolen bases in 83 games. There aren't many more complete offensive players in the MLB right now. He's hitting for contact, punishing errant pitches with his power, and absolutely smoking lazy defenses on the base paths.
Of note is that the shoulder in question is Carroll's right shoulder. He's a lefty. He still needs full operation of his shoulder at the plate (and in the field), but the injury shouldn't have any lingering impact on his ability to throw the ball, which is always important out in right or left field.
The Diamondbacks will hope for a swift recovery as they seek to stave off the lurking Dodgers and Giants in the competitive NL West. Arizona has been one of the most consistent teams in the MLB this season, but bad luck comes for everyone eventually. We will see if Arizona can weather the storm.