Corbin Carroll Undergoes Elbow Surgery; Expects Mostly Normal Offseason

Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that he recently underwent elbow surgery to remove loose bodies from his right elbow. The procedure used the NanoNeedle, the same technology used in Tarik Skubal’s surgery earlier this year. Carroll planned to start swinging in November. That offseason work will now be delayed but only by two weeks. Carroll tells Piecoro that he felt some discomfort in that right elbow, which is his non-throwing arm, during the season. That discomfort worsened lately, which eventually led to this surgery. The NanoNeedle is a fairly new technology. In essence, it’s smaller than other arthroscopes, which hopefully leads to smaller incision and therefore less pain, swelling and recovery time. In Skubal’s case, it seemed to work, as he returned in about six weeks from a procedure that would usually take a few months. With Carroll, it should be even less significant. As mentioned, this surgery was performed on his non-throwing arm. Also, position players can usually return from elbow surgeries quicker than pitchers. Carroll’s offseason swinging program was set to start in November but will now be pushed by a few weeks into December. Apart from that, it will hopefully be a normal winter for Carroll. Little injuries were a recurring theme for Carroll in 2026. He require hamate surgery in February. He was ready by Opening Day and avoided the injured list but had a few minor absences related to his left hip, his lower back and his elbow. Carroll tells Piecoro that the back was actually more of an issue than the elbow during the campaign and something he is focused on getting right before the next season. Despite the various issues, it was still a strong season for Carroll. He hit 22 home runs and stole 21 bases. He slashed .239/.328/.467 for a 115 wRC+. FanGraphs credited him with 4.2 wins above replacement. As impressive as those stats are, they were all a bit down from the prior season. In 2025, Carroll had 31 homers, 32 steals, a .259/.343/.541 line, 140 wRC+ and 6.6 fWAR. The drop could have been typical annual fluctuation or perhaps the injuries dragged him down a bit. Carroll is a huge part of the Arizona club. Naturally, he and the Snakes will hope that he is 100% healthy and as productive as possible next year. The club made it to the World Series in 2023 but missed the playoffs in the three most recent seasons. Carroll is going into the fifth year of the eight-year extension he signed with the club back 2023. There’s also a club option for 2031. Photo courtesy of Thomas Shea, Imagn Images View Comments (3)