Twins catcher Joe Mauer has hit a speed bump in his recovery from a bruised right quadriceps.

The Twins had hoped that Mauer, who had made solid progress before Thursday, would be able to catch in the bullpen as part of his recovery process.

"That didn't happen," Mauer said.

Mauer said there's still swelling in the quad that he has to work out before he can do more on the field and get back in the starting lineup. So he\missed the entire series in Pittsburgh and might miss a couple games in Cincinnati this weekend.

"I hope so, you know," he said. "It's not much better than yesterday. I thought I'd be able to do a little bit more. It's real frustrating."

It makes how he got hurt - on a questionable slide into home plate by Milwaukee's Rickie Weeks on Sunday - even more questionable because Mauercan't get on the field. Mauer is able to pinch hit but will need a pinch runner if he reaches base - unless he homers.

"Yeah, but just to miss games in general," Mauer said. "I'm driving myself nuts sitting and watching, and I want to be out there. But I'm definitelynot ready to do that."

OTHER STUFF

The field was full of hockey players this afternoon as prospects for the upcoming hockey draft took batting practice. Man, were there some awful swings. A lot of left-handed hitters who couldn't keep their feet still.

The Twins had about 50 players show up for their tryout camp this week, but didn't sign any of them.

Lefthander Brian Duesning has been named the starter in Saturday's game in Cincinnati.

Twins (27-40)

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Ben Revere, RF
3. Josh Willingham, LF
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Trevor Plouffe, 3B
6. Ryan Doumit, C
7. Brian Dozier, SS
8. Alexi Casilla, 2B
9. Liam Hendriks

Pirates (35-32)

1. Alex Presley, LF
2. Neil Walker, 2B
3. Andrew McCutchen, CF
4. Garrett Jones, RF
5. Casey McGehee, 1B
6. Pedro Alvarez, 3B
7. Rod Barajas, C
8. Josh Harrison, SS
9. James McDonald, RHP