Brian34Cook

Cards concerned about Pujols' elbow
Posted: Saturday February 16, 2008 2:09PM;
Updated: Saturday February 16, 2008 2:09PM

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) -- St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and the team's medical staff will keep a closer eye this season on first baseman Albert Pujols' balky right elbow.

Pujols, who opted not to have surgery to repair a strained ligament after meeting with specialists during the offseason, is less concerned. The slugging first baseman said he will not change his routine as he prepares for opening day.

"If it blows out it's going to blow out," Pujols said. "You can't control that."

The Cardinals, though, will try. Pujols arrived in South Florida Friday and went through his first workout at the Cardinals facility later that afternoon. He was in the batting cage Saturday morning long before the pitchers and catchers took the field. The injury has bothered Pujols since 2003 and it flared up last season.

"It didn't make sense having the surgery and just clean it up, when cleaning it up it wasn't going to make it good," Pujols said. "I had to do something in the ligament."

Although Pujols' numbers last season were typically eye-popping - a .327 batting average, 32 home runs, 103 RBI -- La Russa noticed something different with Pujols' swing.

"We'll definitely monitor it," La Russa said Saturday. "Talking to the trainers this morning one of the biggest issues will be throwing so we'll be on the careful side of really firing it. He could make a swing that could tweak it, too. It's one of those deals."

The injury has been more bothersome throwing rather than hitting. But so far Pujols has done both during his early arrival.

"Coming to spring it never bothered me," he said. "It gets irritated during the year when I'm hitting and throwing and doing more basic stuff and not resting. I'm not even thinking about it. I'm going to do what I have to to get ready. If it does come to a point where I do treatment, I do treatment. Right now the way it feels I don't need to talk about any treatment. It feels good."

SI.com - MLB - Cardinals concerned about Pujols' strained elbow

Pujolsfan91

We'll have to see.. it'll be bad news if it blows out. Our chances to get into the playoffs are slim and without Albert we have no chance.

__________________


Sig from a diff site.

Rasmus future CF of the Cards!!

Kyle

I would have rather him have it in October so he'd be ready by like June or July... But no... he has to wat until now

Brian34Cook

03/06/2008 12:17 AM ET
Surgery not immediate option for Pujols
Slugger, Cardinals planning to manage, monitor elbow
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com

JUPITER, Fla. -- Cardinals team physician Dr. George Paletta shed light on the condition of Albert Pujols' elbow on Wednesday, confirming that the slugger likely is best off not having any kind of surgical procedure until the time comes when a complete reconstruction is needed.

Pujols has a "high grade" tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, as well as bone spurs, inflammation and arthritis in the joint -- all of which have likely developed as a reaction to the ligament tear. The ligament's condition has not appreciably worsened since it was first injured, in 2003, but the surrounding issues have become somewhat more pronounced over that time.

According to Paletta, Pujols was presented with three feasible courses of action over the winter. He could continue the path he had been on, which is treating the symptoms of his injuries while he continued to play.

He could undergo arthroscopic surgery, which would address the bone spurs and the arthritis but not the ligament tear. Or he could have arthroscopy as well as Tommy John elbow-reconstruction surgery.

Pujols chose the non-surgical path, a decision that Paletta endorsed. The superstar may yet require reconstruction at some point, and according to Paletta, the intermediate option is likely no longer viable.

One concern with the arthroscopic surgery is that in many cases, bone spurs and the like actually help stabilize an injured ligament, and removing them can make the problem even worse. This situation occurred with Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter last summer.

"I think now our options are really likely down to two," Paletta said. "If his elbow condition can't be successfully managed and gives him significant problems again, then I think the horse is out of the barn and he should probably consider having the whole thing done."

The Official Site of The St. Louis Cardinals: News: Surgery not immediate option for Pujols

I'll be stunned if he makes it through this whole upcoming season!

panoo

I agree, I think this is a bad decision by all parties. If he does make it through this season, good for him, but I really don't see it happening.

Brian34Cook

A User’s Guide to Pujols’ Elbow
By Derrick Goold
03/07/2008 12:54 am

The question looming over the most important and precarious ligament in the Cardinals’ franchise is whether or not Albert Pujols can play out the rest of his already illustrious career without repairing a shredded ligament in his right elbow.

His answer is yes now and check back with him later. The team doctor agrees.

“Probably. Possibly,” Dr. George Paletta told three of us reporters Wednesday here in Jupiter, Fla. “This is not a curable problem without reconstruction. What we hope is this is a manageable problem. We’ve been managing this problem since 2003. … But there may come a time when it’s not manageable anymore. And if it’s not manageable, the best answer for Albert, long-term, is having reconstruction done.”

And therein lies the rub. The Cardinals and Pujols will manage the elbow injury until they cannot. As Pujols said: It blows when it blows.

There are continuous questions about the former MVP’s elbow — and sporadic bursts of intensive coverage, as we’ve seen the last couple days — and this is an attempt to pool all of the information for a one-stop reference. Below is both a history of the injury, a current situation report on the injury and some additional references. These details have all been discussed an reported before, but over a span of the last couple months and the breadth of several articles, at the P-D and elsewhere.

It started in April 2003.

STLtoday.com - Bird Land - Blog Archive - A User’s Guide to Pujols’ Elbow

Brian34Cook

La Russa plans to rest Pujols more
By Joe Strauss
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/21/2008

JUPITER, Fla. -- Cardinals manager Tony La Russa indicated that he will be more aggressive in resting first baseman Albert Pujols this season because of concerns about Pujols' tender right elbow and chronic hamstring issues.

La Russa suggested before Thursday morning's workout that Pujols would be held out of "two or three games a month," which would give him 144 to 150 games this season.

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