Bone chips removed from Pujols' elbow

By R.B. FALLSTROM
AP Sports Writer

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals star Albert Pujols underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow Wednesday, with doctors removing bone chips and trimming bone spurs. He is expected to make a full recovery in time for next season.

Dr. James Andrews, who performed the operation in Birmingham, Ala., said that Pujols would not require ligament reconstruction. Pujols has been playing with a partially torn ligament since 2003, and reconstructive surgery would have sidelined him the first few months of next season.

Pujols, 29, would begin rehabilitation next week in St. Louis and is expected to fully recover, the team said in a prepared statement. No timetable for his return has been set.

Pujols has had surgery the past two offseasons. Last season, he underwent an outpatient procedure to relieve nerve irritation that led to numbness, tingling in his ring finger and pinkie, weakness in his grip and pain along the inside of the forearm. That procedure was done by Dr. George Paletta, the team physician.

Pujols led the majors with 47 homers this past season while batting .327 with 135 RBIs. He didn’t homer in his final 89 at-bats after Sept. 9, a drought that manager Tony La Russa attributed to opponents’ pitching.