DOWNTOWN — Chris Duncan, the St. Louis Cardinals outfielder who is another season and one back surgery removed from his breakout power display, hasn’t tried taking his new titanium disc through a metal detector but he’s had no trouble putting it through baseball rigors.

“I’m not worried about,” Duncan said Saturday, the first day of the Cardinals’ 13th annual Winter Warm-up. “Seems like everything should be fine. I guess when I start running into some things, we’ll find out.”

Duncan stayed in St. Louis this winter — the first time he hasn’t retreated to the warmer weather of his hometown in Arizona or a place near the Jupiter complex — and part of the reason was the workout regimen he’s been on with a former St. Louis Rams’ strength coach. Duncan is returning from a first-of-its-kind surgery for a professional athlete. He had a degenerative disc in his neck replaced with an artificial one and missed the end of the season. Duncan said “as soon as they did the surgery, I felt a relief of pain within a few days.”

A return of power is what Duncan, the Cardinals and especially manager Tony La Russa expect.

In 655 at-bats spread over the end of the 2006 season and the 2007 season, Duncan hit 43 home runs and drove in 113 runs. He finished the 2007 season hindered by a sports hernia that limited his ability to drive the ball, and he never felt his swing was right during the 2008 season. He began experiencing some discomfort in his neck early last season and it intensified after the All-Star break.

“I’m excited to re-prove myself,” Duncan said. “I have to prove I’m healthy, show I’m still a good player … and everything else will fall into place.”

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