Dodgers right fielder J.D. Drew knows injuries. In his big-league career, he has banged up everything from his ankles to his knees to his wrists to his shoulders to his neck. He'll tell you the only good thing about an injury is getting over it. He'll also tell you the only certainty about the getting-over-it part is no one knows for certain when he is indeed over it.

Listen to the doctors, follow the trainers' orders, stick to the rehab schedule, and try to be patient. Drew, who missed the second half of last season after breaking his left wrist, has come back so many times he has the patience part down.

"You can't rush it," he says. "You listen to what the trainers say, but you have to decide for yourself when you're ready. Come back too soon and you'll do more harm, and that's not good for anybody."

Drew's teammate Eric Gagne knows about injuries, too — at least when the elbow is involved. He has such bad memories of rehabbing after surgery in 1997 that when doctors told him last June that his right elbow would not require another ligament transplant, Gagne raised his arms triumphantly. And he was on the operating table at the time. Doctors discovered an irritated nerve had been causing his pain. "It helped having gone through it once," Gagne says, "because I knew what kind of pain to expect. This comeback was the same, only a lot more compacted. That is good news."

Numerous players who had season-ending injuries in 2005 — including nearly half a roster of All-Star-caliber players — have enjoyed mostly good news in their comebacks this spring. Bones are healed, tendons are healthy, and ligaments are strong. Of course, as anyone can tell you, optimism reigns in March. But how these players' comebacks play out will remain a mystery at least until sometime in April.

CF Rocco Baldelli, Devil Rays
Pain: A few weeks after the 2004 season ended, he tore the ACL in his left knee while playing baseball with his brother in their back yard. Then last June, with his knee on the mend, Baldelli blew out a ligament in his right elbow while making a throw in an extended spring training game. He underwent surgery on June 24 with the hope he'd be ready for spring training.

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Prognosis: Even though Baldelli had not yet played a game in center entering the week, he was hitting over .300 for the spring and is penciled in as the opening day center fielder. But his injury history and hamstring problem this spring have caused the Rays to bring him along slowly.

CF Mike Cameron, Padres
Pain: During a Thursday afternoon game last Aug. 11 in San Diego, Cameron collided face to face at full speed with center fielder Carlos Beltran, perhaps the most gruesome scene of the season. Cameron, who was playing right field, had broken cheekbones, a broken nose, bloody lips and a huge headache. Surgery lasted more than six hours. Cameron initially hoped to return in a month, but the Mets figured surgery likely would end his season. It did.

Prognosis: Coincidentally, Cameron will call San Diego home — he was traded to the Padres in the offseason. A scout says Cameron has shown no fear at the plate or when running down balls in the outfield. He is having a strong spring, and Cameron says a return to center field will help his comfort level. "I'll be a little more in control of situations out there, in terms of calling for the ball," he says.

RF J.D. Drew, Dodgers
Pain: Drew was having a strong season — 15 homers and a .412 on-base percentage — in his first year with the Dodgers, but on July 3 he was hit by a pitch from Diamondbacks left-hander Brad Halsey and suffered a clean break in his left wrist. With the wrist still bothering him in early September, Drew decided to have surgery on the torn ligament in his other wrist and the slightly torn labrum in his right shoulder.

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Prognosis: His wrists have healed, and his shoulder is coming along at least as well as anticipated. Drew has been swinging the bat well but is being brought along slowly in the field, though he's expected to be in right field on opening day. Based on his medical history -- he has had more than 425 at-bats only once in seven seasons — the Dodgers must hold their breath every time a pitch comes inside or a ball is hit his way.