(AP) — Delmon Young has grown up a little bit more and he’d like to grow into his new role as the everyday left fielder for the Minnesota Twins.

“Last year, my mom died,” Young said. “Baseball became a way to get away from everything.”

Bonnie Young died last May following a three-month battle with liver and pancreatic cancer.

“In the offseason, I went through the grieving process,” Young said. “You can’t really do that during the season when you’re expected to go out there and perform. You want to win games and make a living too.”

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said Young has matured in many ways since the Twins acquired him in a trade with Tampa Bay in 2007.

“His job was baseball, and he had to be away,” Gardenhire said of early last season, when Bonnie Young had fallen ill. “The only time he got to talk to her was on the phone. He went through an awful lot with that. You know what, he came back from that, and he worked really hard in the second half. He has grown as a person, and he has grown as a player. He has become a fantastic teammate. He has worked really hard this winter to come in here in shape and ready to go.

“I’m proud of him. I’m happy for him, and I’m proud of him.”

Last year at this time, Gardenhire was juggling outfielders Young, Denard Span, Michael Cuddyer and Carlos Gomez to get them regular playing time in the three outfield slots.

This year, Gardenhire has given Young the left field slot.

“When you’re platooning, it’s hard to keep a rhythm, not knowing when you’re going to be in there,” Young said. “But it’s a great situation now. We’re all looking forward to playing in it.”

Young hit .284 with 12 home runs, 60 RBI and two stolen bases in 108 games.

“He struggled off and on,” Gardenhire said of Young’s performance. “You define your own role out there. If you’re playing really well, you stay in the lineup for us. You know what, we had a tough situation last year, with four outfielders and trying to make sure they all got at-bats. When they did perform, they played, and they stayed in there.”

Young turned 24 on Dec. 14. He enters his fourth season in the big leagues and his third full one, having played 30 games for the Rays as a rookie in 2006.

“I don’t think people realize how young I am, because I’ve been up since ’06,” Young said. “It’s a learning curve. They say that you go from 24 to 26 and get to 27, you can have a breakout year. I’m hoping I can break out at 24.”

Young, however, did not offer any statistical projections.

“I just want to do whatever I can to help us get to the playoffs,” he said. “If your team gets to the playoffs, and your team somehow gets a ring, that means you had a good year. If you go out and put up big numbers, and you’re team’s not winning, it doesn’t mean anything.”

There’s one number Gardenhire enjoyed seeing: Young’s weight.

Young, listed at 6-foot-3 and 202 pounds, said he weighed as much as 239 last season. He said he recently weighed in at 207, a size that prompted Gardenhire to wonder if he had been through a “shrink machine.”

“We talked about him not running the bases very well last year,” Gardenhire said. “He was a little bigger. This was something that he set his own mind out to do. He set a goal to lose some weight and get back to running the bases better. He came in great shape.”