Lineup announced: Mauer, Cuddyer, Young, Morneau to miss spring opener

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire announced the starting lineup on Saturday for Sunday night's spring training opener against the Boston Red Sox.

And that means baseball season has officially arrived.

CF Denard Span
2B Tsuyoshi Nishioka
RF Jason Kubel
DH Jim Thome
3B Danny Valencia
1B Chris Parmelee
LF Jason Repko
SS Alexi Casilla
C Drew Butera
RHP Carl Pavano

This is clearly not the lineup Gardenhire hopes to use on April 1. Despite participating in workouts all week, first baseman Justin Morneau has yet to be cleared for game action. Joe Mauer is still limited following offseason knee surgery, Delmon Young has a case of turf toe, and Michael Cuddyer will likely miss a few games with a wart on his left foot.

The Twins will face right-handers Josh Beckett and Clay Buccholz.

Phil Mackey is a columnist for 1500ESPN.com. He co-hosts "Reusse & Mackey" weekdays from 4 to 6pm on 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
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