ANAHEIM-- Reed Johnson's options didn't really look like options:

Have the herniated disc in his lower back repaired surgically right away and return in 10 weeks, or begin a six-month rehab for an ailment that would likely still need surgery?

The choice the Temecula Valley grad settled on was easy.

"People said I chose to have the surgery," Johnson said of the dilemma he faced two weeks into his fifth season with the Toronto Blue Jays. "But if you look at those circumstances, I was going to rehab for six months and I was going to have to have surgery after that. I was already rehabbing my mind at that point -- I'm going to need surgery. Why am I working so hard?

"I opted to have it. There's a lot of guys who have had that surgery and has been successful."

A little more than month into his return to action, count Johnson among those success stories.

Inserted into the leadoff spot Thursday for the opener of a four-game set with the Angels, Johnson owned a .262 average (44-for-168) through 47 games. He's driven in 11 runs, has collected 13 extra-base hits and is continuing to rebuild the strength, quickness, agility and rhythm lost during his time away from the Blue Jays.

"I feel like I'm running well," Johnson said. "(Some people) are saying I'm not running as well as I did before the surgery, but I'm running well enough. I've been able to score on doubles in the gap pretty easy from first base. I led off the game a week or so ago with a triple. When I get on the bases, I'm not clogging them. It might be that people who watch me on a daily basis might notice a tad bit of a difference, but that's always something for me to look forward to in the offseason."

Johnson, 30, figured he had plenty to look forward to last offseason after putting together a career year at the plate. He hit .319, belted 12 homers, scored 86 runs, and was looking forward to helping those numbers with another offseason worth of work.

But he re-aggravated a back injury originally sustained lifting weights in 2001. Despite missing two weeks during spring training, the herniated disc had yet to affect him on the baseball field until a simple cough in a clubhouse before a game in April caused his herniated disc to switch from his right to left lower back.

Johnson played the game that night. Afterward, he struggled to pull off his socks.

Immediately, he knew his quest to put up back-to-back productive years was in jeopardy.

"When you've established that you can have a year like I had last year two years in a row, then you've really established that you're going to be able to do that on a year-to-year basis," Johnson said. "That's when you're going to be helping your team the most. That was a huge year for me, mentally. I think that might have been part of it, busting my (behind) in the offseason on an everyday basis as hard as I could, and maybe I did a little too much."

Six to eight hours of rehab a day, however, brought Johnson back to the Blue Jays in early July. Two days before Toronto arrived in Anaheim, a meeting with manager John Gibbons and general manager J.P. Ricciardi reassured Johnson's place with a team that is bringing him back from his injury slowly.

"Health's a big factor, and it's big factor that I've been able to come back this year and show I can still play, that I'm healthy and can still play at an elite level," said Johnson, who's under contract through 2007 and headed for his third year of arbitration. "I think they are being real careful with me now. They want to make sure I get enough bats to get a good feel back, to get my rhythm back.

"At the same time, they want to be careful about my back. … That makes me feel a lot better when you get that reassurance."

Staff writer Jeff Sanders can be reached at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2629 or at jsanders@californian.com.