Mauer visits Mayo Clinic about concussion

CLEVELAND – Twins catcher Joe Mauer visited a specialist at the Mayo Clinic on Friday while the Twins wait to plot a course for him to return to the lineup.

"They were satisfied with where he was at,'' Twins assistant general manager Rob Antony said.

The trip to Mayo is not a surprise. Mauer has seen specialists there in the past.

Mauer began experiencing concussion symptoms Tuesday, one day after a foul ball off the bat of the Mets' Ike Davis nailed him in the facemask. Mauer was placed on the seven-day concussion DL and missed the entire Detroit series.

After not feeling well Wednesday, Mauer was much better Thursday. On Saturday, Mauer will head to Target Field and meet with assistant trainer Lanning Tucker, who also is the rehabilitation coordinator.

"He is going to see Lanning and get checked out,'' Antony said. "It's just a day-to-day thing, [then] start exercising and walking and do all that stuff to return to baseball activities.''

Every player is different when it comes to dealing with concussion symptoms. Ryan Doumit came back in exactly one week after taking a foul ball off the facemask, and the Twins can only hope Mauer can take the same path back behind the plate.

Hendriks was called up Aug. 9 to start one of the doubleheader games in Chicago and gave up two runs over 6⅓ innings in a game the Twins won in extra innings.

He didn't mope about heading back to Class AAA Rochester. He went back and threw eight shutout innings in his next start. That made it a no-brainer for the Twins to call up Hendriks when they sent Kyle Gibson down Monday. It also helped they were pitching on the same day, making Hendriks an easy plug-in.

Hendriks opened the season in the Twins rotation but was sent down after two starts. They have used a total of 10 different starters this season and are back looking at Hendriks.

"I'm starting to get back to where I feel comfortable,'' Hendriks said, "and I feel I definitely opened some eyes. Hopefully, I can keep that momentum and move forward.''

To make room for Hendriks on the 25-man roster, the Twins sent reliever Michael Tonkin to Class AAA Rochester. Tonkin appeared in one game since being called up Tuesday, giving up three unearned runs Wednesday against Detroit.

The diagnosis: A bone bruise, but he's able to play with it.

Arcia, who injured his wrist a week ago, hit in the cage Thursday and said that it felt better. The Twins wanted to be sure, in part because Arcia tried to play through the injury when it first happened without informing them.

One of the things worth watching during the final weeks of the season is how Arcia finishes. In 76 games, Arcia is batting .257 with 10 home runs and 32 RBI and he could emerge as a key offensive player in the near future.