By La Velle E. Neal III
Star Tribune

CLEVELAND - Barring a setback, outfielder Ruben Sierra is expected to join
the Twins by the end of the week, meaning the club will have a decision to
make. Who goes when Sierra is ready?

Outfielder Jason Kubel hit his way onto the Opening Day roster after
missing all of last season following a knee injury. But he is 1-for-12
after two series, going 0-for-2 with a walk in Sunday's 3-2 loss to
Cleveland. Kubel has made eight outs to the right side of the infield --
including seven groundouts to second base.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire will give Kubel more playing time this week.
As much as he likes the look of the lineup with Kubel's lefthanded bat,
Gardenhire might send Kubel down to sharpen his swing at Class AAA
Rochester. That would open up more time for Michael Cuddyer in right field
while adding Sierra's experienced bat to the bench for late-inning
situations.

"I want to see Kubel and see how he reacts to a lot of situations early
here," Gardenhire said. "We have a roster move [coming up], and if he
looks like he's pressing a little bit, then when I bring Sierra up here in
a week I can send Koob out and let him get swinging.

"You can see he's pressing. That's fine because he's been out a long
time."

Gardenhire spoke as if he anticipated Kubel struggling early. While the
stability of Kubel's knee was monitored during spring, hit rustiness at
the plate was also a concern.

"In spring training, you saw a guy swinging and you're seeing young
pitchers," Gardenhire said, "This is the real deal. This is the time I can
get a real feel for what he's doing."

Sierra is playing in extended spring training games in Fort Myers. Fla.,
he already has tried to steal a base, a good sign he feels comfortable
with the left quadriceps that bothered him late in camp.

As for Cuddyer, Gardenhire is considering starting him Tuesday in the home
opener against Oakland.

Liriano a starter?

There is evidence that the Twins are considering using lefthander
Francisco Liriano as a starter. How soon is not known.

Liriano has made two appearances out of the bullpen. The Twins want
Liriano, one of the game's top starting pitching prospects, to build up
stamina to start. His 22/3 innings of shutout relief -- during which he
hit 98 miles per hour on the radar gun -- impressed scouts in attendance
as well as the Twins.

"He's like [Johan] Santana was, but he's ahead of Santana," Gardenhire
said, "He has better pitches right now than Santana did at that age.
Eventually, sure, you don't want to leave that out there in the bullpen.
You want to use that. We'll see how it goes along."

Someone would have to leave the rotation to make room for Liriano, which
would make for a tough decision. Kyle Lohse didn't pitch well Friday but
he's making $3.95 million. Scott Baker couldn't get through five innings
Saturday -- but he did manage to escape a couple of jams without much
damage.

"You can start [Liriano] and let him go three or four innings and someone
else has to [come] in, which is fine," Gardenhire said. "You're going to
build his arm strength up as you go along. We want to make sure his feet
are grounded."

Etc.

* Twins outfielder Lew Ford was held out of the lineup Sunday because of a
sore left hamstring. He will test his fitness today and could be available
Tuesday for the home opener.

* The last time Santana started a season 0-2 was his rookie year of 2000.

* Cleveland's Jake Westbrook has won seven of his past nine decisions.

* Indians slugger Travis Hafner lined out to center in the fourth inning,
ending a streak of reaching base 11 consecutive plate appearances. The
ball was hit hard, and Torii Hunter playfully took his glove off and shook
his hand after throwing the ball back in.

Last update: April 09, 2006