SEATTLE — Spring training is a time to get ready for the season. A time to try new things. A time to get locked in. So it seemed a little odd when, in late June, catcher Ryan Jeffers said he was trying to treat every at-bat as a spring training at-bat.

What, exactly, does that mean?

Let him explain.

“Spring training, you’re so focused on the process,” Jeffers said. “You’re so focused on the plan. ‘Hey, did I have a good ID? Did I swing at the right pitches? And really trying to put the onus on that.”

Jeffers was among not just the league’s best catchers but the league’s best hitters earlier this season. But in May and particularly June he hasn’t been quite as successful, leading to what he called a “tale of two seasons.”

That’s what has led to a change in mindset as he seeks to get himself back to where he was earlier this season at the plate.

“I think we finally made the last couple of adjustments. … It’s been — we were kind of down here,” he said, motioning lower down with his hand. “And it’s been kind of climbing back up, feeling better, feeling better, putting together better ABs. Back to not striking out, kind of doing everything I was doing at the beginning of the year, doing it again. … I feel like I’m back to being at the top, back to where I was.”

And the results have started to follow. Jeffers had a seven-game hitting streak that was snapped on Saturday. On Wednesday in Arizona, he hit his first home run since May 30, a long drought for Jeffers, who remains the team’s leader in home runs.

Jeffers said he was getting caught in between at the plate. He wasn’t attacking like he was earlier in the season.

So, what has helped him feel better at the plate?

“I think we realized some of the stuff I wasn’t doing that I did early, like routine-wise, that I really got back to,” Jeffers said. “Getting big picture, it really sucks, that month you’re in there and in the depth of it. But coming out of it and realizing how much baseball is still left to be played, I still feel so good about where I’m at in the season.”

Paddack throws

Chris Paddack suited up in full uniform Sunday and threw his first bullpen since landing on the injured list.

Paddack was placed on the IL Tuesday with shoulder fatigue, and the Twins shut him down, giving the starter, who spent much of last season rehabbing from his second Tommy John surgery, a needed break after he had been describing the baseball as feeling like “a dumbbell” throughout the month and his body feeling heavy.

The Twins have yet to lay out publicly what their plan is for Paddack, but he had expressed hope that he could be back before the all-star break to make a start or two.

Briefly

The Twins will have Monday off before returning to action Tuesday against Detroit. Simeon Woods Richardson, David Festa and Bailey Ober are scheduled to start against the Tigers. … Former Twin Mitch Garver was hit by a pitch in Sunday’s game and left with a right wrist contusion. Because the Mariners’ other catcher, Cal Raleigh, was the designated hitter, they lost their DH when Raleigh had to move behind the plate.

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