Mauer return might alter order

By La Velle E. Neal III, Star Tribune

Last update: June 5, 2007 - 10:45 PM

ANAHEIM - You might not recognize your Twins lineup when the team comes back from its West Coast trip and Joe Mauer fully recovers from his strained left quadriceps.

It might begin like this: 1. Luis Castillo. 2. Mauer. 3. Michael Cuddyer. 4. Justin Morn- eau. 5. Torii Hunter.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire is contemplating such a change, so much that he's spoken to some of the individuals involved to make sure they are on board with Mauer moving up one spot from his customary No. 3 hole. Cuddyer, Morneau and Hunter, who began the season as the 4-5-6 hitters, all have moved up a spot in Mauer's absence and may now stay there permanently.

"Try to have a lot of on-base guys there at the top," Gardenhire said. "I like Morneau where he's at. I like Cuddyer where he's at and I like Torii where he's at.

"We've had issues with the second hole and maybe just put [Mauer] right there and have a lot of on-base guys get in front of those big guys. We'll see what happens."

Nick Punto opened the season as the No. 2 hitter but entered Tuesday batting only .226. He does have a team-high 29 walks but has piled up fly ball outs.

When asked about moving Mauer in the past, Gardenhire has promoted the philosophy of batting the best hitter third. The great thing about managing is that a manager can change his mind when he wants.

"It kind of worked last year," Gardenhire said of the old lineup. "We kind of had one of the best lineups in baseball last year. [But] everyone said, 'you have to bat him second.' When it works that good, why wouldn't you leave it that way?

"This year is a little different. We have a few guys not quite doing as well as they did last year."

As for Mauer ...

Mauer caught five innings of an extended spring training game on Tuesday with no setbacks. He will catch seven innings for Class A Fort Myers tonight as part of an official minor league rehabilitation assignment. Mauer will travel to the Twin Cities on Thursday and catch Friday and Saturday against Washington. He'll sit out Sunday's game, enjoy an off-day on Monday and take off from there, if all goes well.

Gardenhire said Mauer should be able to catch a full nine innings once he's activated.

Morneau meets Cherry

Wearing a lime-green jacket and with a Canadian television crew in tow, legendary hockey commentator Don Cherry was on the field to watch the Twins take batting practice and to meet Morneau, who left tickets for him to attend the game.

Cherry met his benefactor after Morneau's round of batting practice, and the cameras rolled as the two talked.

Etc.

• Gardenhire still plans to keep three catchers when Mauer is activated from the disabled list, so Chris Heintz will remain on the roster for the time being. "Heinzie has done a very good job filling in." Gardenhire said.

• Heintz started at catcher on Tuesday primarily because Gardenhire wants veteran Mike Redmond to work with righthander Kevin Slowey today.

• Lefthander Dennys Reyes is on the trip while he rehabilitates his shoulder after inflammation landed him on the 15-day DL. Reyes, who was eligible to come off Tuesday, said he hopes to throw in the bullpen when the team returns from the road trip. His return to action has yet to be determined.

La Velle E. Neal III • lneal@startribune.com