Joe Mauer socked a RBI double off of Class AA pitcher Anthony Swarzak in his first at-bat on Wednesday in a minor league game. Mauer, who has missed six games because of a stress reaction in his left fibula, now is catching Glenn Perkins as Class AAA Rochester plays Class AA New Britain. Joe Christensen is one the scene and is calling in reports to me.

Joe just called again! Mauer just homered! Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, who is watching the game from a tower overlooking the field, yelled, “We better get Joe some more at-bats! He doesn’t look ready yet!”

[UPDATE]: Mauer grounded out to first base in his third at-bat and is done for the day. “He’s sitting in a golf cart, signing autographs,” says crack reporter Joe Cristensen. Mauer caught three innings. One of them apparently was a long, Perkins-induced inning.

“I should be fine heading into the season,” Mauer said.

The plan is for Mauer to do the same thing Thursday when the Twins and O’s minor leaguers battle on a back field here.

Yankees: Melky Cabrera, ROBINSON CANO, BOB ABREU, JORGE POSADA, Josh Phelps, Andy Phillips, Chris Basak, Kevin Reese, Miguel Cairo. Pitching: Carl Pavano.

Twins: Castillo, Kubel, Redmond, Cuddyer, Morneau, Hunter, Rabe, Cirillo, Bartlett. Pitching: Bonser.

The Twins have cut lefthander Mike Venafro, Matthew LeCroy, Brad King, Tommy Watkins and Glenn Williams. They are down to 29 players.

Venafro is a complete shocker. I’ve never seen someone with his credentials post a 0.00 ERA and still get cut. He has the right to reject the assignment and become a free agent (he will NOT have a problem hooking up with a team), but he said he feels comfortable with the organization and may decide to go to Rochester. The Twins are lucky if he chooses that.

I won’t be surprised if there are moves after the game, too.

Here’s something to consider: Cutting Venafro may mean the Twins are going with 11 pitchers. Because it makes no sense to keep Durbin. He’s pitched so poorly that may clear waivers anyway! And, while chatting with club officials, there seems to be a consensus that Garza should be starting in the minors if he’s not in the big league rotation

As for the Silva situation, it looks like they are going to give him a few starts during the regular season to see if he pulls it together. It’s better to start the season with Silva, and Ortiz and Ponson and have a Plan B. If Garza and Glen Perkins are in the rotation, there’s no Plan B if they falter.

We’ll know officially over the next 48 hours or so… 

Indications are that, despite a terrible spring, that the Twins are committed to opening the season with righthander Carlos Silva a part of the rotation. I looked into this today, and that’s the vibe I’m getting.

Maybe I’m being hoodwinked. But if not, it is another case of a player not playing well enough to win a job - but getting a job.

I’m anticipating a very lively chat group here on Tuesday…

Baltimore: Payton, Gomez, Markakis, Huff, Gibbons, Hernandez, Millar, Jon Knott (?), Crespo. Pitching: Adam Loewen.

Twins: Castillo, Cirillo, Redmond, Cuddyer, Morneau, Hunter, Rabe, Tyner, Bartlett. Pitching: Sir Sid.