Furcal to bat right-handed due to elbow injury

Due to his elbow injury, Cardinals shortstop Rafael Furcal will bat mainly right-handed, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

The shortstop felt soreness in his elbow recently, which was attributed to his batting left-handed. Furcal also can not throw at full strength, which causes him a good deal of pain.

The injury has hurt Furcal's arm strength, but he is still keeping the rest of his body in good baseball shape while he recovers from the elbow injury.

Furcal has said that he may not field in the first 10-15 games of Spring Training because of the injury, but that is yet to be seen.

Furcal is known for his excellent arm strength, so losing some of that may take some shine away from the aging-shortstop's game.

Pete Kozma filled in for Furcal at the end of last season, doing a good job of holding down the fort and even showing a surprisingly good bat. If Furcal can not play shortstop on Opening Day for any reason, Kozma should be expected to fill in there.

The team also has minor-league shortstops Ryan Jackson and Greg Garcia, but neither has surfaced yet as a potential fill-in. It will be interesting to monitor this situation.