Corbin Carroll blasts 1st home run of spring training after hand surgery

SCOTTSDALE — Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll smoked his first home run of Cactus League play Wednesday, five weeks after undergoing surgery for a broken hamate in his right hand.

Carroll, playing in his fourth big league game since the operation, cracked a 2-2 changeup on the outside half of the plate to deep left-center field off Chicago Cubs starter Edward Cabrera for a 410-foot home run. The ball came off the bat at 105.5 mph.

Corbin Carroll crushes an opposite field shot for his first homer of Spring Training.

No hamate bone, no problem.
He's ready.#Dbacks | @12SportsAZ pic.twitter.com/VWUT8HmqmB

— Jake García (@Jake_M_Garcia) March 18, 2026

“I’d say the hand got to a spot maybe like a week-and-a-half ago where I felt like I could actually start working on my swing as opposed to just swinging to work through the pain,” Carroll said. “I’d say a combination of the hand feeling better and just the work that I’m doing to try and find my swing and get in a good spot.”

Carroll said making sure he is able to pull the ball hard through the air is something he is working on. He hit a hard line drive to right field in his first at-bat on Wednesday.

Typically, players who undergo hamate removal surgery experience temporarily diminished power once back in the lineup. Carroll’s home run does not mean his return to full-go will be easy, but hitting the ball as hard as he has been is a good sign.

The two-time MLB All-Star said he went back to using a bat with a normal knob instead of the axe handle he had been working with to apply less pressure on his hand.

“I just switched back to it and wasn’t having pain,” Carroll said. “So, it felt good to go with it. I used it in a game two days ago, a minor league (simulated) game and then today. I think that’s what I’m going to go with.”

Carroll said last week after his spring debut that his hand did not feel perfect but was manageable. He did not want to elaborate on how it was feeling.

Manager Torey Lovullo said pregame on Wednesday that Carroll will start to get in more defensive work on the backfields, as Carroll has stuck to being the designated hitter in Cactus League games so far.

Related

Corbin Carroll says hand not 'perfect but manageable' after making spring debutNL West outlook: Diamondbacks likely need to finish 2nd to make postseasonDiamondbacks will not be defined by tepid trade deadlineDiamondbacks trade for outfielder Lars Nootbaar from CardinalsWhich players interest the D-backs at the trade deadline? John Gambadoro has 5 trade targetsDiamondbacks unable to get to Gavin Williams ahead of rain delay in disjointed loss to Guardians