Our good friends over at Twinkie Town are reporting, via multiple sources, that catcher Joe Mauer is heading to Fort Myers, Florida, to start rehabilitating.
Mauer has been sidelined since April 12 with bi-lateral leg weakness, a condition that means exactly what it sounds like, a weakening of both legs. Nobody seems to be entirely sure what brought the condition on, but whatever it was, it has caused Mauer to lose a lot of weight.
Mauer started taking batting practice last week, and only played in eight games before the condition took him out of the lineup. He was hitting just .235 before the injury, and only had one extra-base hit in those eight games.
A .235 average doesn't sound terribly impressive, particularly for Mauer, but he looks like Johnny Bench compared to what the team has done with the catcher position since Mauer went out. The three players that have taken turns at catcher since Mauer was sidelined. . .Drew Butera, Steve Holm, and Rene Rivera. . .were a combined 11-for-100 going into Monday night's game. To contrast that, National League pitchers are hitting a collective .143 for the season.