Twins first baseman Joe Mauer has not suffered a concussion since ending his catching career in 2013, but lingering symptoms occasionally blurred his vision at the plate the past two seasons, he revealed during an interview.

Mauer told the Pioneer Press this week he will experiment hitting with sunglasses for the first time to improve his pitch tracking later this month when he reports to spring training in Fort Myers, Fla. Pitchers and catchers report to camp on Feb. 21.

“I’ve always been kind of weird about my routine when it comes to stepping into the (batter’s) box, but it’s something I’ll give a shot this spring and see if it helps,” Mauer said.

Bright sunshine sometimes triggered blurred vision that Mauer links to the concussion with which he was diagnosed in August 2013 after absorbing at least “two significant blows” from foul tips while he was still catching.

He missed the final six weeks of that season but still won the Silver Slugger award for American League catchers with a .324 batting average in 113 games.

The Twins announced the following offseason that Mauer would move to first base to limit risk of recurring concussions. He has remained relatively healthy the past two seasons, and in 2015 he set career highs in games (158) and plate appearances (666).

However, Mauer’s batting average has plummeted, down to .277 in 2014 and .265 last season, pulling his career average down to .313, which still is third among active players.

What is more, last season he struck out a career-high 112 times.

In 61 day games, Mauer hit .248 and struck out 44 times in 253 plate appearances. In 97 night games, he hit .276 and fanned 68 times in 413 plate appearances.

“I don’t want that to be kind of an excuse. If I’m out there, I’m out there. That’s just the way I am,” Mauer said. “There are times I’ve gone up to the plate and I just couldn’t pick up the ball. That’s part of the frustration because I’m trying to do everything I can to get back. It just takes time.”

Mauer reports he has been symptom-free working out the past three months with his personal strength coach, Roger Erickson.

That was not always the case.

“Some of the exercises we tried to do last year, I’d come up and be like, ‘Whoa.’ Now it’s gradually getting better,” he said. “I’m excited for that. That’s why I’m excited to get down there (to Fort Myers) and try some different things.

“It could be a lot of things,” Mauer continued. “There are so many different symptoms. For me it was lighting, I couldn’t really pick up the ball. It was blurry at times. Where I am here versus last year at this time, I can tell my workouts are better.”

Mauer credits Erickson for stretching drills that have loosened his neck muscles and eye exercises, both of which have provided consistent relief.

Besides sunglasses, Mauer will cup one eye at a time in the dugout between defensive innings to reduce strain. Erickson also taught him to rotate his vision around the face of a clock six times to increase blood flow.

“Now when he does exercises laying down or upside down, there’s nothing,” Erickson said.

Vision is the lifeblood of every hitter. Not knowing when it would blur was disconcerting for one as accomplished as Mauer.

“If you’re just a little off, you’re fouling off pitches you should be driving into the gap,” he said. “In the big leagues, you don’t get too many more opportunities to see good ones to hit.”

Mauer was asked whether he shared his pitch-tracking concerns with hitting coach Tom Brunansky, manager Paul Molitor or the front office as he tried playing through them.

“You know, I probably haven’t done that great of a job of doing that,” he said. “There’s days where it’s been really difficult and those when it hasn’t been very difficult. It just hasn’t been very consistent.

“It’s getting better. But when you’re in the thick of things, you’ve been doing this long enough, you learn to play and there are some things you probably should recognize.”

Mauer hopes experimenting with sunglasses during exhibition games and his new workout regimen will provide tools to see the ball better and regain his hitting prowess.

“Athletes are wired a certain way where you play through anything,” he said. “I think there were some things maybe I should have taken a step back and taken a look at and tried to take care of (the symptoms), especially physically.

“As far as this offseason, just coming up from different exercises, how much better I feel with the concussion symptoms, it keeps getting better and better, and that’s why I’m really excited.”