Carlson played college baseball at Mt. Hood Community College, a member of the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) based in Gresham, Oregon. He was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 33rd round of the 1989 MLB draft. Carlson played in Minor League Baseball from 1990 through 2001, appearing in 311 games (202 starts) while compiling a 105–69 win–loss record. He spent most of his career, parts of nine seasons, at the Triple-A level.
Carlson made his major-league debut in 1996 with the Giants, appearing in five games, then made six appearances with the Giants in 1997. In November 1997, he was selected by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 1997 MLB expansion draft. He made 10 appearances with Tampa Bay in 1998, became a free agent after the season, then signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He made two appearances with Arizona during the 1999 season, his last in MLB. In 23 total major-league appearances, all in relief, Carlson registered one win and had a 6.70 earned run average (ERA), while striking out 37 batters in 47 innings pitched. He pitched briefly in Japan for the Chunichi Dragons during the 2000 season—appearing in two games in relief, he allowed no runs and one hit in .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}2+1⁄3 innings. While playing in Japan, he requested a leave of absence due to an illness in his family, but was granted his release and completed the season in Triple-A with the Tucson Sidewinders.
Carlson later served as the pitching coach for the Mobile BayBears, a Diamondbacks farm team, during 2007 and 2010–2013. In December 2013, he was named minor-league pitching coordinator for the Diamondbacks. In November 2021, Carlson was named assistant pitching coach for the major-league Diamondbacks.

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