The Twins are waiting for Joe Mauer to tell them that his left quad is totally healed and that he’s ready to return to action. I still think he’ll be activated in time for the White Sox series. At the worst, the next road trip.

Luis Castillo is batting .375 against Tomo Ohka.

Torii Hunter is 2 for 3 off Ohka - but the two hits are homers.

Bartlett will probably be in the lineup on Sunday. Chris Heintz, too. 

Lineups

Toronto: 1. Rios, RF. 2. Overbay, 1B. 3. Wells, CF. 4. Glaus, 3B. 5. Thomas, DH. 6. Stairs, LF. 7. Hill, 2B. 8. Clayton, SS. 9. Fasano, C. Pitching: Tomo Ohka.

Twins: 1. Castillo, 2B. 2. Cirillo, 3B. 3. Cuddyer, RF. 4. Morneau, 1B. 5. Hunter, CF. 6. Redmond, C. 7. Kubel, DH. 8. Ford, LF. 9. Punto, SS. 

Joe Mauer came to the park feeling good, but he hasn’t been activated yet.

A bunch of guys are out doing early work. Many players are around the cage, practicing their bunts. I’m more interested in the drive-the-ball-into-the-gaps practice.

I plan on blogging something this weekend about the conspiracy that is the Bat-Girl retirement. Stay tuned for more..

Toronto: 1. Rios, RF. 2. Overbay, 1B. 3. Wells, CF. 4. Glaus, 3B. 5. The Big Hurt, DH. 6. Stairs, LF. 7. Hill, 2B. 8. Phillips, C. 9. Clayton, SS.

Twins: 1. Castillo, 2B. 2. Cirillo, 3B. 3. Cuddyer, RF. 4. Morneau, 1B. 5. Hunter, CF. 6. Redmond, C. 7. Kubel, DH. 8. Ford, LF. 9. Punto, SS.

Class AAA lefthander Jason Miller has had his contract purchased and is on his way to the majors to replace lefthader Dennys Reyes, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list.

Miller was told of the decision moments after Rochester lost 10-6 to Durham in 14 innings this afternoon, a game during which Miller gave up a run over 1.1 innings.

The clubhouse apparently erupted when manager Stan Cliburn announced the move, and Matt Garza, of all people, doused Miller with a soda.

“There’s always a need for lefthanders,” Miller told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. “This organization has been great to me.”

You can check out Miller’s mug and stats here.

Reyes has been slowed by shoulder problems for several weeks. The Twins have not announced how serious his injury is yet. Alejandro Machado has been moved from the 15-day to 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man for Miller.

To borrow a soccer term, Joe Mauer faces a fitness test Friday before the club decides to activate him. That’s just a short way of saying he’ll go through pre-game drills and could be activated if healthy.

Bartlett won’t need a stint on the DL for now, but will need to work on his shoulder. I don’t know if that means Punto will play at short Friday or not.

I don’t consider myself to be a draft expert and never will be. Like most people, I just head over to Baseball America and pour through its excellent draft coverage.

Its recent mock draft has the Twins taking Texas high school third baseman Will Middlebrooks with the 28th pick of the first round. Here’s BA’ report on Middlebrooks:

Will Middlebrooks, 3b/rhp
School: Liberty-Elyau HS, Texarkana, Texas. Class: Sr.
B-T: R-R. Ht.: 6-4. Wt.: 215. Birthdate: 9/9/88. 
Scouting Report: Kevin Ahrens isn’t the only blue-chip third-base recruit Texas A&M could lose to the draft. Where Ahrens gets compared with Chipper Jones, the more athletic Middlebrooks draws Cal Ripken Jr. and Scott Rolen comparisons. Selected to play in a Texas high school football all-star game, Middlebrooks drew college interest as a quarterback and punter. He’s also a 6-foot-4, 215-pound righthander with a low-90s fastball and an occasional plus curveball. But his future is at the hot corner. He’s not quite as polished a hitter as Ahrens, but he’s not far off and his size gives him leverage that will produce power. He’s an athletic third baseman with good range and a strong arm, and he runs well for his size. Middlebrooks is a consensus supplemental first-rounder, but he could sneak into the first round with the right club.

AVG AB R    H 2B 3B HR RBI SB
.581 74 38 43 16  1   5   35 17

The Twins don’t mind drafting high school talent, so they will have plenty of options, by their standards, on the June 7-8 draft. BA writes that this draft is deep. The Twins feel that there’s quality in the first 10-15 picks but a drop-off after that. They actually like the position they’re at, given what the they expect the bonus for that slot to be.

The Twins were really high on Beau Mills, a third baseman who was at Fresno State and later transferred to Lewis and Clark, but his stock has risen to top 10 status.

Here’s another player the Twins are considering, one who entered the year as the top prep player but who has slipped into the Twins’ range:

 Michael Burgess, of
School: Hillsborough HS, Tampa. Class: Sr.
B-T: L-L. Ht.: 6-1. Wt.: 200. Birthdate: 10/20/88. 
Scouting Report: With huge raw power, inconsistent performance and the legacy of Hillsborough High (the alma mater of Gary Sheffield, Dwight Gooden and Elijah Dukes, among other big leaguers) as a backdrop, Burgess has become one of this draft’s most debated prospects. He was a third-team All-American after batting .512 with 12 home runs as a junior, and the power translated with a wood bat last summer. Although his bat speed, strength and leveraged swing remain, Burgess’ approach and set-up at the plate have puzzled scouts this spring, and he hasn’t made consistent hard contact. He seems to lack focus, perhaps due in part to constant solicitation from hopeful advisers and receiving hitting lessons from former Georgia Tech star Ty Griffin and big leaguer Derek Bell. Late in the season, his timing was better and he showed glimpses of the 40-homer-hittting right fielder he could become. He’s an average defender with a plus arm and below-average speed. Burgess could slip into the supplemental round, but the team that weighs his history over his senior year could pop him in the first round.

AVG AB R   H 2B 3B HR RBI SB
.340 68 33 23 7   1   3   22 11

Yes, Hillsborough has turned out the prospects over the years, and Burgess, with the right coaching, could become a nice masher.

The Twins are still trying to beef up their position prospects. They’ve tried so hard to come up with a good third baseman, and have several who really haven’t taken off yet in Matt Moses, David Winfree, Whit Robbins, Danny Valencia and others. I keep hearing good things about Christopher Parmalee and Joe Benson, but they are off to slow starts. Henry Sanchez, the 260-pound high school masher, is just getting ready to play in games after wrist problems (which hopefully explain the lack of contact) have slowed his growth. And I want to see more production from their Latin American program.

But the upcoming draft is always a time to dream about the future. And it only takes one bumper crop to boost a whole organization. Remember, we lock in on the first-rounders, but rounds 5-15 is where scouting can make the difference.

I’m flying back to the Twin Cities today while Joe C. takes over in Texas. It’s too bad the Twins couldn’t finish off the sweep yesterday, but Ramon Ortiz and Dennys Reyes had their issues.

As for Reyes, the Twins should know more about his sore shoulder by this evening. As you’ve read today, Gardy wasn’t happy to learn after the fact that Reyes has been pitching with a sore shoulder. Gardy wanted the sweep badly to put them in a position to have a winning road trip.

Gardy spoke about how urgent the situation is before Sunday’s game.

“It’s all about winning series from here on out,” he said. “We can’t afford, in this division, to get too far behind. This stretch of baseball…we have played the teams with the best records in the game. We have not fared as well as we wanted to. We are capable of playing better baseball.”

We also talked about Jason Kubel not getting playing time during the series. Gardy said he’s liked the way the lineup has looked with Ford in it. It looks like Kubel will DH a lot, with Ford in left. 

“I still want Kubel to play some outfield,” Gardy said. “but my original plan was for Kubel to do more DH-ing and platoon with Cirillo. I’d like to use Kubel like that to keep his legs fresh.”

My concern is that Kubel is not a good player off the bench and especially as a pinch hitter. He’s hit a bunch line drives that have found leather and should be in there every day.

So Kubel now needs to show some fire and bang his way into more playing time.  Just think what happens when (if?) Rondell White gets healthy… 

My next podcast should be up soon. I may blog during the Texas series, so keep checking back….