PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll had played only 49 games in the minor leagues before the start of the season.
He didn’t play at all in 2020 with COVID wiping out the minor league season.
He played just seven games in 2021 before shoulder surgery ended his season.
Now, in the final days of spring training in what would be his first full professional season, the Diamondbacks called him into the office – as they do with all of their young players – and asked him to identify his goals for the season.
“You typically get generic answers,’’ Diamondbacks farm director Josh Barfield says, “like, I want to get to this level, hit .300, or whatever.’
“Well, he pulls out a notebook. We’re all sitting there, and he goes through it, step by step, and walks us through the goals for the year. … It was pretty unique.”
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Just five months and three stops later, with a slight derailment when he tested positive for COVID, Carroll found himself in the big leagues in the final days of August after tearing up Class AA Amarillo and Triple-A Reno.
So, safe to say that Carroll, 5-foot-10, 165 pounds, reached all of his goals, achieving everything he could have possibly envisioned?
“I can’t really say it exceeded my expectations,’’ says Carroll, the 16th player selected in the 2019 draft, “because these are the…
