Joe Mauer To Return To Twins' Lineup Friday Night

The news Minnesota Twins fans were hoping for has arrived: catcher Joe Mauer has been penciled into the lineup card for Friday night's game against the San Diego Padres. Fox Sports North's Tyler Mason tweeted the lineup:

#Twins lineup: Revere CF, Casilla 2B, MAUER C, Cuddy 1B, Young LF, Valencia 3B, Nishioka SS, Hughes DH, Repko RF, Duensing SP.

A little over two weeks ago, the Twins were a team in ruins. They had lost 19 of their previous 24 games, and practically no one in the lineup could hit. The outlook is considerably rosier presently, thanks to a subsequent stretch that has seen them win 11 of their last 13. At 28-39, the Twins still have plenty of work cut out for them, but it ought to be fun to see what this suddenly resurgent team can do with their perennial MVP candidate back in the batter's box.

For more on the Twins, check out SB Nation's blog, Twinkie Town.

Joe Mauer Targeting Friday Return To Twins Lineup

Yes, apparently it's actually going to happen. From Tom Pelissaro (via 1500ESPN.com):

Barring a setback in the next 48 hours, Joe Mauer will be back in the Minnesota Twins' lineup on Friday night.

The team confirmed Mauer's return late Wednesday afternoon, hours after the All-Star catcher took batting practice against deposed closer Joe Nathan in Fort Myers, Fla., and declared his lengthy rehabilitation complete.

Just a little refresher ... Joe Mauer is a baseball catcher and plays for a team called the Minnesota Twins. Some time ago, he was considered one of the best baseball catchers in baseball, but then -- and again, this was ages ago -- he tried to play but couldn't play well and nobody was quite sure why.

Anyway, he's coming back now and pretty soon people will remember him again. This season, the Twins' catchers have batted .183/.074/-.648, which could have been worse, technically speaking, but was pretty terrible, realistically speaking.

So this is definitely a good thing for the last-place Minnesota Twins. Now, about this baseball first baseman named Justin Morneau who used to play for the Minnesota Twins ...

Joe Mauer Catching In Extended Spring Training

When Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer went on the disabled list, he left a team that was struggling. When he comes back, it will be to a team in ruins. So it follows that the Twins aren't going to rush their substantial investment back into action. They'll take their sweet time in the absence of a pennant race, and let him recover at his own pace.

So while it's obviously good news that Mauer is catching again in extended spring training, there's probably reason for just a little bit more optimism than one might find in the typical road-to-recovery story. From 1500espn.com:

The Minnesota Twins' ailing All-Star played three innings at catcher in an extended spring training game, his first game action at the position since he went on the disabled list on April 14.

Mauer is 0-for-10 so far in two extended spring games, but the bigger story is that he's playing at all. The Twins still aren't putting a timetable on his return, though making sure that Drew Butera's 3 OPS+ doesn't see any more playing time must be awfully tempting.

Joe Mauer Takes Light Batting Practice, Just First Step

The good news is that Joe Mauer took a little batting practice Tuesday. The bad news is that he doesn’t have any idea when he’ll actually play baseball again. First there was the knee injury that limited him in March and April and ultimately landed him on the Disabled List. And then there was the viral infection that knocked him flat for two weeks. Mauer (via 1500ESPN.com):

“That really did push me back quite a bit,” Mauer said. “When it was all said and done, I lost around 15 pounds. I lost a lot of strength, so that probably pushed me back a week or a couple weeks. I’m feeling a lot better now. I’m getting my strength back and my weight back, so hopefully I can get back on the field.”

He added, “You’ve got to get back into baseball shape. But yeah, I still got some work to do, and I wish I knew when I would be back, and I know everybody else wishes too, but you just go to keep going in the right direction.”

Writing less than a week ago, we pointed out that Twins catchers had combined for a .152 batting average this season … which seems almost impossible to maintain, but they’ve actually fallen to .139 since. And no, that batting average isn’t at all deceptive, as Minnesota’s backstops also rank last in the majors in runs and RBI, and haven’t yet hit a home run.

Mauer’s still out indefinitely, Justin Morneau’s still not hitting, and the last-place Twins are 12-22. When is Opening Day in 2012, exactly?

Mauer and Nishioka Not Close To Coming Off DL

The news about the Twins isn’t really news, and it’s not really bad … But it’s not good, either, and if the Twins don’t get some good news soon, Twins news will simply be irrelevant. The latest from Ken Rosenthal about two of the regulars on medical leave:

Mauer and Nishioka are still “a few weeks away,” according to general manager Bill Smith. In the meantime, the Twins continue to scramble. Their minus-62 run differential is by far the worst in the majors. And on Friday, they will promote catcher Rene Rivera, who last appeared in the majors with the Mariners in 2006.

A week ago, Mauer and Nishioka were both a few weeks away from coming off the DL, so this post is mostly an excuse to mention that Twins catchers this season are batting a cool .152 with exactly frigid zero home runs. How did Rene Rivera earn his return trip to the Show? He batted .200 in 13 games with Rochester.

The Twins aren’t dead. But unless Rene Rivera hits five or six home runs in May, they’re going to be put on life support on Memorial Day.

Joe Mauer 'Turning A Corner', Still Not Fit For Baseball Activities

The encouraging news is that, according to Joe Mauer, the Twins' star catcher is finally "turning a corner" in his rehabilitation from a viral infection and unrelated bilateral weakness in his legs. He had lost 15 pounds, and now that he's getting back into strength exercises, he's finding his fitness level that had for some time been absent.

But while Mauer is getting stronger every day, he still isn't hitting, catching, or throwing. He's very much still in the beginning stages of his rehab program, which means a return to the Twins' lineup isn't imminent.

Mauer will soon get himself back to participating in baseball activities. Once he gets comfortable doing that, he'll be sent on a minor-league rehab assignment to get him up to speed. Once he's up to speed, he'll be brought back to the Twins. That seems to be at least a few weeks away, and the struggling Twins can only hope that by then they haven't completely dropped out of the race.

Joe Mauer Injury: Legs Getting Stronger, Trainer Speaks

An update on Minnesota Twins catcher and franchise cornerstone Joe Mauer, who was caught in the crossfire of a viral infection and a mysterious leg weakness early this season ... The infection is long gone, and Twins trainer Rick McWane has good news on Mauer's overall condition. From Joe Christensen of the Star-Tribune:

Mauer feeling better, getting stronger, will meet with doctors today to discuss next step. Will need minor-league rehab ...

Twins trainer Rick McWane said team doctors are confident Mauer is "perfectly healthy other than his orthopedic soreness."

The injury as initially reported was so vague and ominous, that reclassifying it as "orthopedic soreness" seems like a minor victory. McWane also confirmed that Mauer's viral illness and leg weakness were not directly connected. Right now Mauer is concentrating on getting stronger and regaining the weight that was lost during his illness, and he has yet to resume baseball-related activities.

Joe Mauer Injury Rehab Progressing As Twins Catcher Works On Leg Strength

Minnesota Twins star catcher Joe Mauer is eligible to come off the disabled list this coming Thursday. However, don't get your hopes up - according to general manager Bill Smith, that's pretty unlikely, as Mauer's almost certain to need more time.

But it isn't all bad news. That viral infection that Mauer was battling? He's over that, now. Even though the infection set Mauer's recovery back by roughly a week and cost him some weight, he's currently working out and trying to rebuild his leg strength, the loss of which sent him to the DL in the first place. So Mauer is most definitely making progress.

Most likely, Mauer will be sent on a brief minor league rehab stint whenever he's ready before he returns to the Twins' starting lineup. And the Twins are eager to get him back, as they've gotten nothing out of temporary replacements Steve Holm and Drew Butera.

Joe Mauer Doesn't Think Leg Weakness Is Related To Viral Infection

When the story of Joe Mauer's creepily ambiguous leg weakness broke, it seemed like an ominous sign for the Minnesota Twins' catcher. Then when he also had to be checked into the hospital for a viral infection, people thought a) that dude's had a bad week, and b) the infection and the weakness have to be related.

Not so fast. Joe Mauer, who is the first to acknowledge that he isn't a doctor, doesn't think the two issues are related. From the Pioneer Press:

"I'm not a doctor or anything, but I don't think they're related," he said. "Before I started feeling sick, (the DL stint) was going to be done. I couldn't go out there and play. I was just making things worse."

Mauer thinks the leg weakness is related to a much more simple explanation -- his legs weren't strong enough coming out of spring training, in part because he had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in the offseason that caused him to miss a significant portion of his offseason regiment.

It would have made for a quick resolution if the problem was something that could have been handled quickly with antibiotics, but the problem is still on the mysterious side, with Mauer still uncertain when he'll be back.

Joe Mauer's Leg Weakness May Be Related To Viral Infection

The Joe Mauer situation went from not scary at all, when he was initially day-to-day, to moderately scary, when he was placed on the disabled list with inexplicable bilateral leg weakness that was also affecting his hip and shoulders. But Mauer went to the hospital on Thursday night with flu-like symptoms, and the organization believes that virus may be responsible for what's going on with its prize backstop:

Twins now think viral infection Mauer was diagnosed w/ at hospital last night contributing heavily to his soreness and weakness Gardy said.
...
w/ viral infection diagnosed for Mauer, Gardy said he's much less concerned and more optimistic Mauer's DL stint will be brief

Obviously, we'll see. The Twins think Mauer is weak because of this virus, but until someone's able to confirm, he won't be entirely out of the woods. But the Twins are optimistic, and if Mauer is simply having trouble because he's been bogged down by an infection, it stands to reason he should be able to make a full and fairly fast recovery.

We can all cross our fingers. Love the Twins, hate the Twins, or think the Twins are okay, we can all agree that baseball is more fun when Joe Mauer's on the field, so hopefully this really is just about a bug.

Joe Mauer's Leg Weakness Probably Not A Long-Term Problem, Says Twins GM

Star Twins catcher Joe Mauer is currently sitting on the disabled list with bilateral weakness in his legs. It's a mysterious problem, and manager Ron Gardenhire suggests it could take Mauer longer than 15 days to return, but Twins GM Bill Smith had some words of encouragement. Said Smith:

"We don't think this is anything that's going to be cause for long-term alarm."

Additionally, Smith said that the team is not considering changing Mauer's position from catcher at this time. People have been wondering if Mauer would be able to stick behind the plate from the time he first arrived, but so far, the Twins haven't seen any reason to make a move.

Of course, this all hinges on what's actually wrong with Mauer, so until that's figured out, no concrete statements can be made, and no certain conclusions can be reached. Odds are that Mauer's not dealing with anything severe, and he should be able to make a fairly rapid return to catching, but major problems must first be ruled out.

Joe Mauer Could Be On DL Longer Than 15 Days

Thursday evening, word spread that the Minnesota Twins were sending catcher Joe Mauer to the disabled list with "bilateral weakness" in his legs. Now on Friday, Ron Gardenhire hints that Mauer could be gone longer than 15 days. Quote:

"Honestly, I don't know how long it's going to be. We've got the DL time, the two weeks, 15-dayer, but I don't know how long it's going to be, because this is something we haven't had to deal with."

One complication is that, while Mauer was set to visit a specialist in Baltimore on Friday to see about his issue, he's been delayed due to a presumably unrelated illness. Mauer went to the hospital Thursday night complaining of flu-like symptoms, and he's still not feeling very well. So any visit to any specialist will be delayed.

The cause of Mauer's weakness is, at this point, a mystery. One thing that seems to be certain is that it isn't coming from his troublesome knees. Gardenhire speculates that Mauer may actually be feeling weak because he's trying to compensate for the knee he had operated on over the offseason, but no one knows for sure. It's worth noting that Mauer has been diagnosed with inflammation of the sacroiliac joint in the past, located between his spine and his pelvis.

While Mauer is away, Drew Butera and Steve Holm will handle the catching duties.

Twins' Problems Piling Up Too Quickly

Joe Mauer Leg Injury Sends Twins Catcher To DL

Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer had been out of the lineup the last couple days with what was thought to be a relatively minor problem. On Thursday, Ron Gardenhire revealed that he was "sore", but wouldn't specify where, or how badly. But then, out of nowhere, news broke that Mauer is headed to the disabled list.

The reason? Mauer is reportedly dealing with bilateral leg weakness that is also having an effect on his hips and shoulders. He's going to Baltimore to see a specialist on Friday, and after that visit we should know a little more about what's going on. But this certainly sounds pretty ominous, particularly for a catcher with a history of lower body problems. If it's a nerve concern, that could be significant.

Drew Butera will find his way into the Twins' regular starting lineup while Mauer is out. Mauer had started the year 8-34 with a walk and a double. The Twins have been in dire need of offense in the early going, as both Mauer and Justin Morneau have struggled.