Pujols will carry on
Albert Pujols seems to be back in business. The slogger arrived at the Cardinals camp on Friday and spoke to reporters about his injured elbow among other things. He has been struggling with a ligament injury in the elbow since 2003 but it reached its worst in the 2007 season.
Pujols had been considering getting his elbow operated upon but then decided against it. He said that he will try to manage with it like he has for the past 5 seasons until something goes wrong. He said that he intends to go about his work as usual until an operation become necessary.
Over the off season several options were made available to Pujols including a significant surgical procedure that would sideline him for several months, a minor surgery which wouldn’t really address the root problem and continuing the ongoing course of rest, rehab and management. He said that if he got to a point where he needed surgery he would get treated.
Pujols who was voted as the 2005 National League Most Valuable Player became quite a cause of worry to manager Tony La Russa who believes that the injury lowered Pujols’ performance in the last season when his power dipped. Pujols scored a career low in home runs and his average of .568 in the slugging category was 52 points below his career average.
Once he arrived at the camp Pujols took to the field and went on with his normal workout. Pujols is now entering his 8th season with the club and has made the team more seasons in a row than any other Cardinal. He said that he was remarkably blessed to be with the Cardinals and hoped that he could stay forever. So for now looks one of the league’s best hitter is back.
