Mays, Twins have a feel-good day

La Velle E. Neal III
Star Tribune

FORT MYERS, FLA. -- Twins righthander Joe Mays leaned back in a chair and laughed a few times on Friday after throwing two scoreless innings against Toronto.

Many of those times, he would raise his right arm. That's when the long scar from his elbow operation -- the reason it's been 581 days and counting since he last pitched in the regular season -- was clearly visible.

How Mays looks, right now, is secondary to how he feels. And he felt good on Friday.

Good to be in a Twins uniform.

"Someone said, 'Why don't we wear blue [nameless] jerseys,' " Mays said, "and I said, 'I don't think anyone knows my name.' So I made sure we wore the white ones today."

Good to be back on the mound.

"That bump in the middle of the field," he said.

Good to feel part of a team again.

"I got out there and was like, 'Is that 60 feet, 6 inches?' " Mays said. "It looked like a country mile."

He resisted the urge to ask catcher Joe Mauer to move up a few feet, and just pitched. He didn't throw any sliders, the pitch that puts the most stress on the elbow.

He did throw his curveball and changeup and said he liked the sink on his fastball. He gave up one hit and one walk over two innings, while striking out three. He even broke a bat as the Twins lost their spring training home opener 5-2 to Toronto.

An announced crowd of 6,862 cheered as he ran onto the field to warm up for the first inning. In the dugout, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was thinking that Mays already had accomplished something. Pitching well was a bonus.

"That was fun to see," Gardenhire said. "He was right around the plate. The pitches he missed, he was just missing. It was kind of fun to see him back on the mound. That was the highlight of the day for me, watching Joe go out and throw on the mound."

Twins General Manager Terry Ryan looked on and began wondering just how good Mays can be. And for how long. Mays went 17-13 in 2001. Players who have Tommy John surgery usually come back stronger, but it takes up to two years.

So Ryan is wondering if Mays can perform at a high level by the time spring training is over.

"I think we're a little early in deciding where he's going to perform at," Ryan said. "A couple years ago Joe Mays was a darn good pitcher for us. If we can get him back anywhere near that, I would think so.

"I was shocked at how sharp he was because he located on both sides of the plate. Almost all his pitches were down."

Mays said he has mechanical flaws to smooth out -- no surprise after 18 months. But his goal is to begin to take on a starter's mentality. He will rise at 5:30 a.m. each morning to drive from his home in Bradenton, Fla., to Fort Myers to work out on the treadmill.

He can think major league thoughts again.

"I feel like I'm part of the team again," he said. "I don't feel like an outsider looking in."