BY JASON WILLIAMS
Pioneer Press

CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Twins can't anoint Michael Cuddyer their Opening
Day right fielder just yet.

Cuddyer strained his left oblique muscle while making a throw during
Monday's game against Philadelphia. Cuddyer, scheduled to be evaluated
today, said the injury is minor and shouldn't cause him to miss much time,
if any.

But with only two weeks remaining until Opening Day, Cuddyer's injury
might afford Jason Kubel and Lew Ford the opportunity to close a wide gap
in the competition for the starting job.

"That does make it a little more interesting," manager Ron Gardenhire
said.

Fresh from signing a $1.3 million contract during the offseason, Cuddyer
has seemed to have overcome the disappointment of failing at third base
last year. Having entered camp as the right field favorite, Cuddyer
separated himself from the pack in 11 games, batting .500 (14 for 28) with
two home runs and six runs batted in.

Cuddyer said he began feeling stiffness in his side over the weekend. The
injury, he said, bothers him when he throws and runs but not swinging a
bat. Cuddyer experienced pain in his oblique while throwing to the infield
after making a diving catch in the second inning. He remained in the game
until the sixth.

If Cuddyer has to start the season on the disabled list, the Twins likely
would turn to Kubel. Having missed last season after undergoing knee
surgery, Kubel has forced the coaching staff to take notice. Gardenhire
said Kubel was making the competition interesting after he got two hits
Thursday against Cleveland.

But the Twins' top hitting prospect has gone 0 for 10 in three games
since, dropping his average to .222.

"I feel like I'm not showing anybody anything," said Kubel, who started in
left field Monday. "I need to start hitting the ball hard again. I'm not
feeling horrible, but I'm probably trying too hard."

Sierra update: It appears aging slugger Ruben Sierra will begin the season
on the disabled list, forcing the Twins to look at other options to fill a
key bench spot. An evaluation Monday determined Sierra strained his right
quadriceps while fielding a ball the previous day.

"He'll be down for a while," general manager Terry Ryan said. "I can't put
a timetable on it. But it's not like he's 20 years old, so you have to
take (age) into consideration."

Ryan said switch-hitting corner infielders Terry Tiffee and Glenn Williams
would be looked at to fill the role of left-handed pinch-hit specialist.
Either player also could fill the backup first baseman role, a position
Sierra is being considered for despite never having played there in his
big-league career.

Getting ready: At least one of the Twins' starting pitchers returned from
the World Baseball Classic feeling on track to be ready for the season.
Despite a so-so first Grapefruit League start Monday, Johan Santana said
he feels ahead of where he normally is at this time of year.

Santana stepped up his offseason training regimen to prepare to pitch for
Venezuela, then threw more than 60 pitches in each of his two WBC starts.
He gave up four runs on six hits over 3 2/3 innings of a 70-pitch outing,
but he was battling a mild cold. He still struck out seven batters and
used the outing to throw his signature changeup several times.

"I'm seeing my fastball and my changeup going down, and that's what I want
to see," Santana said. "I feel good."

Sunday, Carlos Silva struggled with his pitch command in his first spring
start, blaming his struggles on not pitching enough in the WBC.

Briefly: Reliever Juan Rincon (elbow) remains on track to make his spring
debut early next week after he threw a pain-free eight-minute bullpen
session Monday.

* Infielder Juan Castro was diagnosed with a mild sprain in his right
wrist after results of a magnetic resonance imaging test on his hamate
bone Monday were negative, Gardenhire said. Castro is scheduled to swing a
bat Wednesday and is expected to be ready for the opener.

* Brad Radke pitched four scoreless innings in a Class A game against
Boston.

* The Twins are down to 40 players in camp after optioning Boof Bonser,
Chris Heintz and Garrett Jones to Class AAA Rochester.