Carroll swings axe-handle bat to help injured hand in spring debut

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Corbin Carroll made his Cactus League debut on Wednesday afternoon and took three at-bats against the Athletics at Salt River Fields.

Serving as the designated hitter and batting in the leadoff spot, Carroll grounded out to second in the first, flied out to left in the third and struck out swinging in the fifth.

"Felt fine," Carroll said. "I mean, obviously it’s not going to feel, you know, perfect. But manageable and just trying to work through it as best I can and make sure I’m ready to go."

Carroll suffered a broken right hamate bone on Feb. 10, while taking a swing during a live batting practice session. He had surgery to remove the bone the next day and by the day after that, he was back in camp working on his throwing (it was Carroll’s non-throwing hand that was injured) and strength training.

The groundout to second on Wednesday was hit very hard, registering an exit velocity of 113.6 mph, according to Statcast.

Carroll was asked if he felt like the injury has impacted his swing mechanics.

"I don’t know," he said. "Probably. But you’ve got to go out there with what you’ve got and I think I’ve got enough right now."

Carroll has adjusted the bat he uses, switching for now to an axe-handle bat to help alleviate some of the discomfort.

"Not sure how long that's going to last, but it's definitely less painful," Carroll said of the new handle. "So sticking with it for now."

It is clear there is still some physical discomfort for Carroll, but as he did last year when he played through a left wrist injury, he finds a way to block it out and not talk about it.

"I don’t really want to talk about how it feels," Carroll said. "It just is what it is honestly. No point in getting caught up on it. Just kind of do what we can do. The biggest thing is just getting in game shape hitting-wise. Making sure that timing is getting back to a good spot. Start working some game plans in and making sure we’re good to go."

To try and accomplish that, Carroll will likely play in some backfield simulated games where he can lead off every inning and get more at-bats than he would in a Cactus League game.

As for playing defense, it sounds like at least for Carroll’s first few appearances this spring, he'll do so as a DH.