Mauer gets back into the swing of things

FORT MYERS, FLA - In Joe Mauer's first ballgame since the 2010 postseason Wednesday, he hit a ground ball to Mets third baseman David Wright. When Wright bobbled the ball, it became clear why Mauer has talked so much in camp about improving his leg strength.

He pushed hard for the first-base bag -- but either his clutch was stuck or he's topping out at third gear right now.

"I felt like I had some ankle weights on my legs," he said.

Mauer's first exhibition game of spring training began the testing of a left knee that needed offseason surgery because of irritation. While Mauer's return might be an additional reason for Twins fans to indulge in St. Patrick's Day revelry, everyone at Hammond Stadium saw Mauer still has some work to do before he's ready to catch well over 100 games this season.

Mauer went 1-for-3 in his 2011 debut, hitting a single in the first inning before reaching on Wright's error in the third and tapping out to first in the fourth as the designated hitter.

During each at-bat, the sellout crowd of 8,238 gave him a loud round of applause. Heck, they applauded him when he popped out of the dugout before the game to warm up in the outfield.

Twins spring training has become more interesting in recent days with other injured players also rejoining the lineup. First baseman Justin Morneau played in his first game March 8 after a concussion on July 7 last year knocked him out for the season. Michael Cuddyer is still a few days away from playing after having a wart removed from his left foot -- who would have guessed Mauer would play a game before Cuddyer? -- but the outfielder is expected to be ready soon.

"It felt good to get back out there," Mauer said.

Mauer said he might be in late February shape and still building leg strength, while most of his teammates have made steady progress toward being full-throttle by Opening Day. He has some catching up to do, but feels he'll be ready for the regular- season opener April 1 at Toronto.

So how much leg work is he doing?

"You got enough time?" he replied.

He made it known during his media session that he was off to the pool for more leg exercising once the final question was asked. He has been one of the first to arrive at the Lee County Sports Complex in the morning and one of the last to leave many days during spring training.

"I'm starting to get even a little bit with my leg, getting it back. Now I'm just trying to get the conditioning in and get your wind up. That's part of what I do in the pool. It also good for strengthening for your quad.

"I'll run to the pool, and it takes a couple of hours."

Mauer today will catch in a minor league spring training game while the rest of the team travels to Lakeland to play the Tigers. He said the combination of playing in games and conditioning work should help him reach game shape before camp ends.

"The biggest thing for Joe is getting his legs under him," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "And that's catching, catching and catching. That's going to be the big thing from here on out in spring training.

"The hitting part of it, Joe does that better than most."

"I thought I threw two good sliders today," Pelfrey said. "One of them was his first at-bat. I threw a slider in, and he hit a rocket right up the middle.