Cardinals Confirm: Pujols to have elbow surgery for bone spurs
The St. Louis Cardinals confirmed this evening that first baseman Albert Pujols will have surgery on his problematic right elbow on Wednesday morning in Birmingham, Ala. The Cardinals described the procedure as “arthroscopic debridement”, which is a clinical description of a less-invasive procedure to used to remove (hence, “debride”) things like bone spurs.
Earlier this evening, Ken Rosenthal at Fox Sports is reported that Pujols will have surgery on his right elbow to have five bone spurs removed.
The procedure, according to the team, will be done in Birmingham, Ala., by Cardinals team physician George Paletta and noted sports doctor James Andrews. The Fox report said Pujols is expected to recover for spring training. The team is not giving a timetable. Instead, the club said in a release that more information will be available after the procedure is completed.
This will be the second consecutive offseason that starts with surgery for the probable NL MVP. Pujols had a nerve relocated and some cleanup done in the elbow a year ago. The Cardinals first baseman has been playing since 2003 with a torn ligament in his right elbow. To completely repair the ligament Pujols would need Tommy John surgery. In the past, Pujols has resisted the complete procedure to avoid missing several months of a season.
Much more on this in Wednesday’s Post-Dispatch.
-30-
(4 votes, average: 3.5 out of 5)
Loading ...
It’s about time. This is the best thing for him and his durability in the dog days of the summer.
Let’s hope that he is not putting off a more serious surgery and it will not bother him near the end of next season just like this year.
Do you suppose this means that they have decided AP does not have ligament damage? I’ve heard so much about his potential need for Tommy John surgery, I now wonder if this is a quick fix or that it’s what has been the whole problem from the gitgo.
Maybe this will help Albert show up in October in future seasons.
I wish he would just have the full surgery and get it over with.
Mike, they specifically said he’s playing with a torn ligament. What part of that would make you think that he doesn’t have ligament damage?
If Pujols just has the Tommy John…I’ve heard its an eight month recovery in the past when they’ve brought this up. That would put him back at the soonest for a May or June comeback, unless this fixes the problem for the most part. Eh. I’ll just have to wait till tomorrow to find out, won’t I?
Ignorant Jim, I suppose you want to resign Holliday too. That’s the guy they kept pitching to instead of Pujols. Just look at the Yankee-Angel series and see how many times AROD is up with men on and he’s never walked because the people up after him produce. Pujols had DeRosa at 210, Yadi this DP ’s for you and Holliday who stood there with his bat on his shoulders and took 3 straight strike to set the tone for the whole series.This doesn’t even count his kindergarden defensive performance. Pujols certainly performed vs the Sox and Tigers or maybe you’ve conveniently forgotten that. Does Brad Lidge sound familiar
Gottheblues - just another name calling internet tough guy. The fact is we won in 2006 in spite of Albert - remember the offensive performances of Eckstein and Rolen? Albert did little in that series and he did nothing in the 2004 WS. Besides the Lidge home run Albert has not been much of a factor in the in the postseason since 2004. My comment simply points out that surgery may help him do in October what he seems to do in May each year. If he needs to miss a couple of months next season to get the required Tommy John procedure, I say get it done.
Hey, Mistro, what’s with the venom? Maybe we should take up a collection so you can get some help. Next time, count to ten, then write your thoughts. Or, better yet, go back under your rock.