Twins find the hot bat of Jeferson Morales impossible to ignore

FORT MYERS, FLA. - He’s never appeared on a ranking of the Twins’ top prospects, he’s only two years removed from playing in Class A despite signing seven years ago, and he was a catcher until the Twins decided last year that he’s not.

Oh, and Jeferson Morales has also been the most productive hitter in Minnesota’s camp this spring.

Who?

“Jeferson Morales is our Jean Segura look-alike,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said, referring to the recently retired two-time All-Star infielder. “He’s got the swing. He’s got the strong body and frame, even kind of throws in a similar fashion. That was what I thought when I saw him playing and swinging the bat.”

At a time when the Twins have begun trimming their roster now that Class AAA preseason games have begun, Morales has stuck around to give Baldelli and his staff more time to evaluate the 25-year-old Venezuelan who figures to spend much of the summer in the outfield at CHS Field in St. Paul.

He’s made quite an impression. On Thursday, Morales, playing left field and batting ninth, drew two walks, doubled home a run and singled, scoring three times during the Twins’ 15-3 rout of the Pirates.

That raised his spring average to .438 (7-for-16), his on-base percentage to .550 and his slugging average to .750. His 1.300 OPS is the highest of any Twin who has played at least 10 Grapefruit League games.

“He has some real snap in the bat and gives you a good chance to hit a ball somewhere,” Baldelli said. “He’s played different positions. He’s there to do anything we ask him to do, and he’s just a gamer. I love having that kind of guy to put in there, and he’s making you want to give him even more at-bats this camp.”

The only Twins player with statistics approaching Morales’ is Ty France, who leads the team in hits (12, six for extra bases) and RBI (eight), and owns a 1.298 OPS.

After suffering through the worst season of his career last year, a hitting drought that allowed the Twins to sign him for just $1 million, France sounds relieved that the hitting stroke that made him an AL All-Star three years ago has returned.

It’s happened, France believes, because he has gone analog in a digital sport.

“The biggest thing is just getting back to basics. I know it sounds so simple and dumb, but this game has been changing and evolving, and there’s a lot more analytics stuff involved,” France said. “I think I put too much into that and tried to be computer-perfect rather than just go out and be myself.”

In four months with the Mariners and two with the Reds, France says he focused on increasing his bat speed and launch angle, tinkering with his swing in an attempt to hit Statcast benchmarks.

“I kind of got away from being a gap-to-gap hitter, a complete hitter. I was in my own head, and it was just a bad recipe,” the 30-year-old first baseman said. “I’d say I got lost a little bit mechanically, trying to do too much, carry too many ideas into the batter’s box. That’s part of growth, but unfortunately, it came with struggles.”

So his vow last offseason will sound familiar to Twins fans who know Tony Oliva’s mantra: See ball, hit ball.

“A lot of this offseason was just trying to get back to being myself and simplifying my mechanics,” France said. “When I’m driving the ball the other way, that’s usually when I’m at my best. I’ve done a lot of that this spring — a handful of doubles down the first-base line, hit a homer on the backside. My first four years in the big leagues, this is the hitter I was.”