Two years removed from the second World Series appearance in the 28-year history of the franchise, the Arizona Diamondbacks find themselves fighting a battle on two fronts.
On one side, the Snakes are battling for a playoff spot while competing in MLB’s toughest division, the National League West. With the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres ahead of them, Arizona remains 7 1/2 games out of first place despite a winning record of 40-38. They also sit 2 1/2 games out of the third NL Wild Card.
Their other battle has been, and continues to be, against injuries. Most painfully, after signing free agent starter Corbin Burnes to a six-year, $210 million contract, they lost the righty ace to Tommy John surgery on June 6.
Manager Torey Luvullo had slated lefty A.J. Puk and right-hander Justin Martinez to share closing duties. But within the last two weeks, both have been lost to season-ending elbow surgeries as well.
On Monday, the team’s No. 1 catcher Gabriel Moreno hit the 10-day inured list with a “hand contusion.”
Injury Nightmare Continues Monday
The nightmare continued later Monday when one of the team’s top two hitters, who was National League Rookie of the Year two years ago, went to the injured list for an undetermined period of time as well.
With all of the injuries to the pitching staff, the Diamondbacks have suffered on the mound, ranking 25th of MLB’s 30 teams with a 4.74 ERA. But the Arizona hitting attack has kept the team in contention.
At .784 the Diamondbacks have the third-highest team OPS in MLB, and they have also scored the third-most runs with 406. That’s 10 more than the American League-leading New York Yankees.
Carroll has provided a major piece of the Arizona offensive assault, blasting 20 home runs, leading the NL in triples with nine, while riding a .914 OPS. On the Diamondbacks’ roster, only second baseman Ketel Marte has been better, with a 1.017 OPS.
The 24-year-old outfielder, who signed an eight-year, $111 million pre-arbitration contract extension before last season, took a 91.4 mph sinker ball off his left wrist, thrown by Toronto Blue Jays southpaw Justin Bruihl. That was back on June 18.
X-Ray Fiasco Delayed Proper Diagnosis
According to reporter Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic, Carroll initially went in for X-rays after the initial injury. But they showed no structural damage.
When Carroll’s wrist continued to feel discomfort, he went in for MRI and CT scan imaging on Monday. Those images showed that Carroll suffered what Arizona general manager Mike Hazen described as a “displaced fracture” of the wrist.
In layman’s terms, that means the bone in the lefty-swinging Carroll’s left wrist showed a crack, but not a clean break that caused bones to move out of place, “meaning that while it is not a good outcome for Carroll or the Diamondbacks, it could have been worse,” Piecoro reported.
âI donât know what the downtime is going to be,” Hazen told the Republic. “Theyâll probably reassess it after a few weeks. Itâs going to be some period of time down.â
The injury comes at a bad time for the Diamondbacks, winners of four of their last five games as they attempt to gain ground on the three teams above them in the division.
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