St. Louis ? David Eckstein, the shortstop with the infectious go-go attitude, the “pulse” of the St. Louis Cardinals, needs a tuneup.

Worn down by injuries since June, he now has a sprained left shoulder, courtesy of a diving stop on Jose Reyes’ infield hit during Game 5 of the NL championship series.

Since then, he has taken fewer batting practice cuts than his teammates and has avoided unnecessary throws to conserve his strength for games. He skipped Monday’s off-day at Busch Stadium while the rest of his teammates went through a mandatory workout.

Eckstein’s defense hasn’t been affected, though he’s had no success at the plate in the World Series or much in the postseason overall.

“I limit my swings in the on-deck circle, limit batting practice,” Eckstein said. “If the other guys are taking three sessions in the cage, I’ll take one or two.

“I limit all the stuff I do before the game.”

Eckstein, who batted .292 in the regular season, is 0-for-9 against the Tiger.

He’s hitting .160 overall (8-for-50) in the postseason with two extra-base hits, a homer and a double and two RBIs.

St. Louis trainer Barry Weinberg said the latest injury wasn’t so severe that Eckstein wouldn’t have tried to play through it during the regular season.