6 Corbin Carroll Replacements For Team USA in the World Baseball Classic
📖 Full Retelling
There’s no sugarcoating it. Corbin Carroll’s hamate bone injury is a brutal loss for Team USA in next month’s highly anticipated World Baseball Classic. The Diamondbacks’ star outfielder broke his right hamate bone during batting practice at the outset of spring training on Tuesday. Carroll underwent surgery for the hand fracture on Wednesday, and he’s expected to be sidelined for several weeks, which sent Team USA scrambling for a replacement. Filling Carroll’s shoes won’t be easy. The 25-year-old is coming off his first-career 30/30 season. Carroll recorded a 140 OPS+ and won the Silver Slugger award last year. Team USA, strutting into the WBC with the best all-around roster in the tournament, suddenly needs to find another outfielder to suit up alongside Aaron Judge, Byron Buxton and Pete Crow-Armstrong. As difficult as it will be to replace Carroll, who has been among the top position players in baseball since he debuted in 2022, if there’s any team that can pivot quickly to an exciting name, it’s the USA. Let’s dig into possible outfield replacements Team USA could try to recruit: Kyle Tucker, Los Angeles Dodgers Though Tucker might immediately seem like a no-brainer, particularly because he participated in the 2023 WBC for Team USA, there are some concerns worth flagging. Tucker played through a right-hand injury last season, and even though the newest Dodgers star is expected to be fully healthy to begin the year, playing in the WBC might not be worth the risk. The Dodgers also might prefer the outfielder to stick around at spring training and familiarize himself with his new team. Still, Tucker is the most obvious backup to fill in at the last minute. Jackson Merrill, San Diego Padres Merrill, entering his third season in the big leagues, is another logical replacement for Carroll. Though the 22-year-old only played in 115 games last season due to injuries, he still hit 16 home runs, collected 67 RBI and posted an OPS+ of 112. By any measure, that’s solid pr
📄 Original Source Content
There’s no sugarcoating it. Corbin Carroll’s hamate bone injury is a brutal loss for Team USA in next month’s highly anticipated World Baseball Classic. The Diamondbacks’ star outfielder broke his right hamate bone during batting practice at the outset of spring training on Tuesday. Carroll underwent surgery for the hand fracture on Wednesday, and he’s expected to be sidelined for several weeks, which sent Team USA scrambling for a replacement. Filling Carroll’s shoes won’t be easy. The 25-year-old is coming off his first-career 30/30 season. Carroll recorded a 140 OPS+ and won the Silver Slugger award last year. Team USA, strutting into the WBC with the best all-around roster in the tournament, suddenly needs to find another outfielder to suit up alongside Aaron Judge, Byron Buxton and Pete Crow-Armstrong. As difficult as it will be to replace Carroll, who has been among the top position players in baseball since he debuted in 2022, if there’s any team that can pivot quickly to an exciting name, it’s the USA. Let’s dig into possible outfield replacements Team USA could try to recruit: Kyle Tucker, Los Angeles Dodgers Though Tucker might immediately seem like a no-brainer, particularly because he participated in the 2023 WBC for Team USA, there are some concerns worth flagging. Tucker played through a right-hand injury last season, and even though the newest Dodgers star is expected to be fully healthy to begin the year, playing in the WBC might not be worth the risk. The Dodgers also might prefer the outfielder to stick around at spring training and familiarize himself with his new team. Still, Tucker is the most obvious backup to fill in at the last minute. Jackson Merrill, San Diego Padres Merrill, entering his third season in the big leagues, is another logical replacement for Carroll. Though the 22-year-old only played in 115 games last season due to injuries, he still hit 16 home runs, collected 67 RBI and posted an OPS+ of 112. By any measure, that’s solid pr