Pujols confident he can dodge elbow surgery

JUPITER, Fla. — Albert Pujols is confident he can make it through another season, and maybe even the rest of his career, without needing reconstructive surgery for an elbow that's hampered him off and on since 2003.

The St. Louis Cardinals will do their part to keep their star in the lineup, promising plenty of rest that will allow him to keep building his Hall of Fame resume. They're easing him into the season, too. Pujols played in his 10th spring game Wednesday, with five games off.

"I can go the year and I don't have to be concerned about it because I took enough rest," Pujols said. "The last couple of years I haven't taken enough rest.

"It's just something I need to play by ear, and so far it feels good."

Pujols first injured his elbow in 2003, when he was an outfielder and stayed in the lineup by promising manager Tony La Russa he would not cut loose on throws, instead flipping the ball to shortstop Edgar Renteria in a relay system that helped to avoid blowing out a strained ligament. The risk probably is greater now, several years of wear and tear down the road.

Team physician Dr. George Paletta provided details for the first time last week, disclosing Pujols has a high grade tear of the ulnar collateral ligament along with bone spurs, inflammation and arthritis in the joint. At some point, Paletta said, surgery that would sideline Pujols for an estimated eight months may be required.

That time is not now. Pujols remains the big bat in the lineup, hammering his fourth homer in only 27 spring at-bats Wednesday off the Marlins' Gaby Hernandez, and was batting .370.

"I'm seeing the ball really good and I feel real good at the plate," Pujols said. "Obviously, it's the hard work I put in before the game and on my days off."

Alarm bells went off across the country last week when Paletta's diagnosis, which did not alter the prevailing opinion that the injury could be managed indefinitely, became fodder for a bulletin crawl on ESPN.

Pujols' conclusion: It was a slow day in the industry.

"I guess there weren't enough highlights," he said. "You know how it is, sometimes people, when they want to make the story, they do whatever they want."

In January, Pujols complained that the elbow was such a hindrance last year that he wouldn't go through it again. Rest in the offseason was a big help and now there's only optimism.

"Hopefully I can play the next 10 or 15 years, if I have that long to play in this game, and pray I don't need surgery," Pujols said. "Who knows? One thing I can tell you is I'm not going to back off.

"I'm going to do whatever I have to do to get myself ready, and if I break down, I break down. That's too bad."

La Russa worries that Pujols could blow out the elbow with one off-balance swing.

"I only know what the doctors say," La Russa said. "He's played seasons where he didn't take that swing. He has an issue in there and if something crazy happens, it may pop up. Go after a pitch and all of a sudden something funny happens, your foot slips, whatever."

The only concession Pujols has made thus far is altering his weightlifting program to put less stress on the elbow. He vows that he won't get cheated at the plate.

"I'm taking the same swings I've always taken, with the same approach and the same energy," Pujols said. "Injuries, that's something you can't control, and if it's going to happen, it's going to happen."

Pujols is fond of saying that perhaps a month into the season, no one is truly healthy.

"You play 162 games and you travel every three days, you sleep in different beds every three days, and you play night games and day games and it's tough," he said. "Your body needs to get used to all that, and people don't understand that and say 'Oh, you can't stay healthy.'

"I've said before, if there's anybody in this game that plays 100 percent healthy the whole year, he's lying. My mind tells me that I'm 100 percent, but my body doesn't, and that's the way it is."