Pujols says he can avoid surgery

Albert Pujols, the face of the St. Louis Cardinals since the retirement of Ozzie Smith, made 80-point headlines at the start of spring training by saying he would shut it down for the year if his elbow was bothering him and the Redbirds weren’t in contention.

But now, he’s singing a different tune. Prince Albert says he can avoid surgery on his right wing not only this year but for the rest of his career.

And he insists the elbow isn’t bothering him.

Pujols has altered his weightlifting program to put less stress on the elbow, a switch that has not made a dent in his power. He vows not to 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.”

In other Cardinals’ spring training news, Juan Gonzalez was scratched from action today with a mild abdominal strain.

And, Chris Carpenter threw 20 pitches off a mound for the second time yesterday.

“I think he looks like he’s right where he should be at this point,” pitching coach Dave Duncan said. “He’s making good progress, but it is what it is. In his case, you’ve got to put the time in.”

Carpenter said he’s throwing at 60 percent effort and only fastballs. So, while he's happy to be progressing there's little sense of relief. It’s way too early for that.

“I think it’s going to get different when we start upping the intensity and the quantity," Carpenter said. “It’s on a line and it’s going in there nice with an occasional little pop in the mitt.

“I’m not firing it, but it’s hard enough for right now, and I’ve been recovering fine and as long as that continues to progress, everything will fall into place,” he said.

Sounds promising so far, but, as Carp says, this is still early in the recovery road.