Drew is eager, but he won't rush back<br>
By Rick Hummel<br>
03/11/2003<br>
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JUPITER, Fla. -- The Cardinals probably didn't envision their starting outfield at this stage being Albert Pujols, Orlando Palmeiro and Kerry Robinson, with the likes of So Taguchi and Eduardo Perez as outside possibilities. 
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But Eli Marrero has been sick, Jim Edmonds has had a strained calf which will keep him out until near Opening Day and J.D. Drew has been, well, invisible . . . unless you check the batting cages and the training room. 
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That was the plan all along after Drew had offseason surgery to repair a diseased patellar tendon in his right knee. But, with outfielders falling right and left -- or in this case, right and center -- it might, in theory, seem tempting for Drew to step up his pace. Especially since he said he feels so good now. 
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But the schedule calls for Drew not to play in the spring before March 19 and not all in the first part of the regular season. Drew will be placed on the disabled list, and he and his patience are all right with that, although he said, "I hate watching games not being able to get into them. 
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"It's not right. But, with the injury I had, I know how bad it felt. I could very easily go up there and try to sneak around doing something I'm not supposed to be doing, like running and swinging too much. But I don't want to risk taking a chance of setting myself back any because everything is really close to feeling pretty good. I look at it as every day I come back is a little closer to being 100 percent. Swinging and throwing, I've felt as good as I have in a long time." 
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Traditionally, Drew hasn't been a fast healer from injury, although healing from surgery is a little different. By this weekend, it will have been five months since his Oct. 17 surgery. A reasonable target date for his return to the big leagues could be six months after the fact, which strikes Drew as a good pace. 
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"The way it felt after the first couple of months, I was thinking it would take forever," said Drew, who was bothered most of last season by the ailment and hit just .252. 
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While most teams experience injuries among pitchers in spring training, rarely is there outfield attrition. "But we've all been around the game long enough," said manager Tony La Russa, "that you know something always happens." 
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Drew said he had learned from the Mark McGwire rehabilitation, which he experienced first-hand in the spring of 2001. McGwire, some 10 years older at the time, experienced problems when he might have overestimated his recuperative powers from offseason surgery on his diseased patellar tendon. 
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"I've still got a long ways to go in my career and I can benefit by making sure it's healthy," said Drew, 27. "From everyone I've talked to about this injury, the slower you can take it the better. I have benefited from McGwire coming in here and having as many problems as he did in the spring. 
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"You feel good in the spring, but if I had tried to do what he did in spring training two years ago, I'm sure I'd be back at square one again, right back to being sore and fatigued and tired and not having anything to show for it. And I think (the Cardinals) realize that, because (McGwire) dealt with it so much. It's like they're saying, 'Man, we know what happened with McGwire. Let's give J.D. a chance to heal a little better.'" 
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For now, Drew is shooting for March 19 and then, if all goes well in limited duty, another appearance a couple of days later. "There's a lot of steps leading up to that date, but I feel pretty positive about it," Drew said. 
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"Sometimes you feel like you can go 100 miles an hour. "There can be some definite times of impatience where you sit back and say, 'Yeah, I can do this.' 
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"But it makes sense that you don't do anything now. They don't give out World Series rings in spring training, do they?" 
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