Twins have their health; that's a good place to start

ATLANTA - Teams around the league are putting players on the disabled list, examining backup plans and wondering when they will have their desired roster available.

The team that had as many questions entering the spring as anyone -- the Twins -- are now worried only about the immediate future, namely road series against the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees.

After beating the Atlanta Braves 2-0 on Wednesday to finish with a 20-12 exhibition record, the Twins shoved off for Toronto as healthy as they have been since the middle of last season.

Of course, it's not how you start healthwise but how you finish. The Twins would like to have it both ways.

What they would really like is a fast start.

"There's a lot of thought going into starting a season," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "You'd like to say they are all focused and locked in [but] ... there's a lot of minds elsewhere. That's Opening Day."

The Twins haven't won a series at Rogers Centre since 2005. Last year, they were 3-6 against Toronto and were outscored 59-34.

Then there are the Yankees, who continually kick them out of the playoffs. The Twins haven't won a series in New York since 2001, going 4-25 during the regular season.

They won't be able to ease into the season.

"To be honest with you, I kind of like it," said righthander Scott Baker, who threw five shutout innings at Atlanta on Wednesday. "In my opinion I'd rather face those guys early. I don't know if there is a rhyme or reason behind it.

"I feel like we match up well with those teams. I know we haven't played well against those teams in the past. As long as our starters are going in there and giving us a chance, we are going to score some runs. I think we'll be just fine."

The Twins' three big injury concerns -- first baseman Justin Morneau, closer Joe Nathan and catcher Joe Mauer -- have deemed themselves ready to start the season. Morneau has not played in a regular-season game since July 7, and it wasn't until just before players reported for camp that lingering concussion symptoms subsided. He's been playing in spring training games, day and night, since March 9 and expects to be in the lineup Friday.

Nathan has been healthy throughout camp. And he looks ready to return to the mound just over a year after tearing the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. He'll start the season as the closer -- despite his slider not being as sharp as he would like.

"I feel my slider is really, really close," Nathan said.

Mauer had offseason knee surgery, but there were few doubts about his readiness for the season. He did take three shots of Supartz, a synthetic lubricant, during camp, which the Twins believe will help his knee through the season.

Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox are dealing with righthander Jake Peavy's latest injury concern and third baseman Dayan Vicideo's broken right thumb. Detroit's Carlos Guillen's season is in jeopardy after left knee surgery. And reliever Joel Zumaya will need more time as he recovers from a broken elbow suffered at Target Field last season.

The Twins don't appear to have to have injury worries. At least for now.

"It's going to happen. We're going to have to deal with [injuries], but you'd like to start and finish with your core group," Gardenhire said. "It's always a nice thing to do that."