Mauer's knee is no issue

BY GORDON WITTENMYER
Pioneer Press

FORT MYERS, Fla. — What knee injury?

Twins catcher Joe Mauer's surgically repaired left knee was not an issue Monday as the 21-year-old from St. Paul completed the first spring test of his knee by finishing the first day of spring training workouts without complication.

"This is the best it's felt," said Mauer, who joined pitchers and other catchers in the Twins' first day of work at Lee County Sports Complex. "I'm not too worried about it right now."

Mauer missed all but 35 games because of complications from the injury suffered during the second game of last season. He hasn't played in a big-league game since early July, and his workload is to be limited during the first part of camp as trainers and coaches monitor his progress.

Monday, he participated in all the catchers' scheduled drills.

"We'll just see after each drill how he does and how he comes along," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Supposedly he's fine. We'll see. But unless he tells me something's bothering him, I'm not going out there worrying about his knee."

Here they come: With the first day of spring workouts came the first day of national attention on Cy Young winner Johan Santana. The New York Times and ESPN conducted interviews with baseball's newest media darling Monday.

Santana, who turns 26 next month, said he's not sure how much time he'll be asked to take this spring to accommodate extra attention but doesn't seem concerned about it.

"I've never been through that," he said. "But the things they want to talk about are positive things, so it's good. The media won't have anything to do with me or the things I do on the field."

Elbow grease: Terry Mulholland may be the oldest player in camp, but his pitching elbow doesn't look the part.

"I can feel a difference," said Mulholland, the left-hander who pitched last season with occasional discomfort in the elbow before having the joint surgically "cleaned out" in November. "It moves normal now. No Rice Krispies or clicks or anything like that in there. And my extension is pretty much normal."

Balfour slowed: Of the 23 pitchers in camp, only right-hander Grant Balfour was held out of any scheduled work on the first day of camp. Balfour, who battled a sore shoulder early last season and again late in the season, arrived with a sore forearm.

He said his shoulder is fine and didn't require offseason surgery. But he developed the forearm tenderness during recent practice to get ready for spring training. It is not considered serious.