The United States will be without one of its projected outfield starters on March 6 when the team starts its 2026 World Baseball Classic journey against Brazil, sidelined by a bone smaller than a quarter.
News broke early Wednesday morning that Diamondbacks star outfielder Corbin Carroll suffered a broken hamate, knocking him out of the WBC and putting his availability for Arizona’s Opening Day game March 26 against the Los Angeles Dodgers in question. Carroll underwent surgery Wednesday after injuring his hand during a live batting-practice session one day earlier.
“It was something I was really looking forward to,” Carroll said Thursday, referring to the WBC, which runs March 5-17. “Spending time around such quality players and getting to represent the country obviously would have been one of the biggest honors of my career.”
The hamate bone is a small, hook-shaped bone on the pinky side of the palm of the hand. Nerves and tendons attach to the hook, using the bone to help transfer force from the forearms to the hand, especially during activities involving gripping something.
The bone is especially prone to fracture among baseball players due to the stress put on the bone while swinging the bat. Lovullo confirmed that Carroll simply swung the bat during Tuesday’s workout and that he was not hit on the hand.
“Took a swing, didn’t feel good, and then I was kinda just moving my hand around, and felt something wiggling around in there,” Carroll said. “Figured I should probably go get it checked out.
Carroll seemed to be getting back into things quickly, as he was seen training at Salt River Fields Thursday in a cast, just one day after undergoing surgery.
“There’s very minimal pain. Just going to try to do what I can to stay in shape,” Carroll said. “I think the biggest thing will be getting back to swinging.”
Lovullo told reporters he could move outfielder Alek Thomas around as needed if Carroll is sidelined when the regular season begins, with Jordan Lawlar also expected to be in the center field mix.
“That’s part of being a baseball player,” Lovullo said Wednesday on MLBNetwork’s Hot Stove. “It happens often, I know a couple more happened inside of baseball yesterday as well…one of our best players goes down, we’re going to rally around him, support him emotionally.”
Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies suffered that fate late last season, when he swung at a 1-0 pitch from then-Nationals left-hander Konnor Pilkington, a former Diamondbacks player.
Despite making just enough contact on the swing for the catcher to miss the pitch, Albies left the game with a trainer one pitch later due to pain in his hand. He was eventually diagnosed with a broken hamate.
“That injury is frustrating,” Diamondbacks third baseman Nolan Arenado told reporters Wednesday.
Mets star shortstop Francisco Lindor, another player to suffer a hamate injury within the last week, was also slated to play in the WBC until insurance issues regarding another surgery made him ineligible. Orioles infielder Jackson Holliday, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, also broke his hamate last week during a live batting practice.
In all three cases, the injuries were to the players’ non-dominant hand. This is not a coincidence; it is due to the non-dominant hand sitting at the bottom of the bat, absorbing more force from the swing.
Carroll and Lindor each had their surgeries completed on Wednesday, while Holliday underwent surgery Thursday. The surgery typically involves removal of the hook of the bone, instead of simply fixing the break, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Since there are no bones or ligaments to heal, the patients can return to normal activity as soon as the incision is healed (which typically takes three to four weeks), and the lack of the hook generally does not affect hand and wrist function, making the removal a more popular option among athletes. Carroll said he expects to be out of the cast in a “weekish.”
Despite being allowed to return, players might not be 100% physically at the end of that four-week window.
When Angels outfielder Mike Trout had the surgery in 2023, he attempted a return about six weeks later. He only played in one game before he was placed back on the injured list for the remainder of the season, saying that he “wasn’t right.”
“While the recovery is typically four to six weeks, hitters who undergo the surgery to fix it often talk about how their power takes months to return,” ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote on X. “It’s not like a soft-tissue injury; the return timeline on hamates is fairly straightforward. The time to full health, however, can be longer.”
Although it wasn’t a hamate fracture, Carroll faced a similar situation last June. Just three weeks after suffering a hairline fracture on his wrist, Carroll was cleared to return to the lineup but struggled, hitting just .216 in his first 21 games back.
He only homered once in that span, despite hitting 31 homers over the course of the season.
– Shay M0loney contributed to this report
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