Los Angeles Angels’ Albert Pujols undergoes foot surgery

Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Angels General Manager Billy Eppler stated Monday that first baseman Albert Pujols underwent an operation to repair the plantar plate in his right foot.

Eppler made the announcement at baseball’s general managers meeting and gave a timetable of 4 ½ months until Pujols will return to full baseball activities.

Pujols had the operation done last week in Charlotte, North Carolina by Dr. Robert Anderson and will undergo rehabilitation in the Kansas City area during the off-season.

Eppler’s timetable will draw speculation on whether Pujols will be available on Opening Day for the 2016 season. Eppler said if Pujols is not available, he is confident in C.J. Cron to start in his place and produce results.

It seems that the never-ending saga of Pujols’ nagging foot and leg injuries continues. The 35-year-old also had a right knee operation done at the end of his first year with the Angels in 2012 and dealt with plantar fasciitis in 2013, which limited him to a career-low 99 games that season.

Although Pujols has been a warrior by playing through many of his injuries over the past five seasons, he has hurt the team at times with his low batting average (career-low .244 in 2015) and lack of speed while running the bases. Pujols was forced to DH the final month of the 2015 season because of a toe injury, where he batted just .224.

Pujols’ saving grace was that his power stroke came back in 2015, crushing 40 homers to join Mike Trout as the only Angels duo to post 40+ home runs in the same season. Pujols also drove in 95 RBIs and made the All Star team for the first time as an Angel.

Pujols is entering the fifth year of his massive 10-year deal that he signed in 2011. It was expected then that Pujols would likely be moved to the DH position on the back end of that contract, not the front end. So my advice for Pujols is this, take all the time you need to recover and come back healthy! If you aren’t ready for Opening Day, then don’t push yourself and let C.J. Cron handle first base responsibilities.

I’m sure all Angels fans would like to see a healthy Albert Pujols in 2016.