FORT MYERS, FLA. – Shortstop Pedro Florimon has reached the final stage of his recovery from appendicitis.

Florimon, who has not played in a game this spring, will play three innings Friday in a minor league game, followed by five innings Saturday. If those stints go well, Florimon could be in the Twins' lineup as soon as Sunday. And that has manager Ron Gardenhire upbeat.

"He's moving great and doing fine," Gardenhire said. "He looks good. He did all of our drills [Thursday]. They're taking it slow, which is the right thing to do. He'll be right back with us soon."

Florimon would then have two weeks of games to prepare for the regular season. Is that enough for him to be ready for Opening Day?

"I think so," Gardenhire said. "They haven't told me one way or another yet, but we've got a couple of weeks here. If he can get at-bats … the advantage is he played winter ball. But there's no guarantees on it yet. I haven't seen enough or not seen enough to make any decision yet. Let's let him start playing and see how he looks and how he does and we'll go from there. But just watching him move around out there, he looks pretty decent."

Sano update

Miguel Sano remains in a New York hospital as he recovers following Tommy John elbow surgery Wednesday. The surgery was performed by Dr. David Altchek.

"[Sano] said he was feeling good but feeling a little dizzy from the medication when he walks," Twins assistant general manager Rob Antony said.

So the Twins are letting him stay in New York one more day until the medication wears off. Sano will return to the ballpark Saturday.

Antony confirmed that Sano's ulnar collateral ligament was completely torn, although that should not change the timetable for his recovery.

"They said they had a good ligament to work with. Altchek was very glad about that," Antony said. "Altchek was pleased with the way the rest of the elbow looked.

"He said he thought it would be four, five months before he could swing a bat. He had no doubts he will be at full strength and ready for spring training next year."

Ryan update

Twins General Manager Terry Ryan received his first radiation treatment Thursday as he continues to recover from Feb. 12 surgery to remove a cancerous lump from his throat. Ryan checked in with Antony while driving back from his session. Antony said Ryan is doing well, but there's still no timetable for his return to work.

Ryan announced in early February that he was battling squamous cell carcinoma and likely would miss all of spring training. Antony was unsure if Ryan would be back by Opening Day.

On deck

The Twins will play two games Friday. Righthander Mike Pelfrey will start at Hammond Stadium against lefthander Wei-Yin Chen and the Orioles. Righthander Kyle Gibson will start in Tampa against righthander David Phelps and the Yankees. First pitch is 12:05 p.m. for both games.

la velle e. neal iii