ARLINGTON, Fla. – What Ramón Laureano is doing wasn’t necessarily part of the original plan.

The Orioles signed Laureano late by offseason standards, agreeing to a $4 million deal on Feb. 4 that included a $6.5 million option. The Astros traded him in November 2017, the Guardians selected him on waivers in August 2023 and released him the following year, and the Braves let him become a free agent in November. His career wasn’t on the upswing.

Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias appeared set with position players and most certainly outfielders after signing Tyler O’Neill to a three-year, $49.5 million contract and promising many more at-bats for Heston Kjerstad. He also brought in Dylan Carlson a week ahead of Laureano for $975,000.

Carlson had three minor league options. Laureano had none. But Elias wanted to make the Orioles more competitive against left-handed pitching and also provide the manager with more freedom to maneuver outfielders for defensive purposes, and Laureano was packing a cannon for an arm. He earned the nickname “Laser Ramón,” a stroke of brilliance to professional wrestling fans, due to arm strength that ranked in the 89^th percentile in baseball.

Elias also had a history with Laureano, who was drafted by the Astros in 2014.

None of this mattered when Laureano began his Orioles career by hitting .188/.216/.438 (9-for-48) heading into May. He had one glorious day, coming off the bench unexpectedly after Kjerstad left with a bruised elbow and homering twice against the Reds – after doing a series of biceps exercises because he assumed that he’d be on the bench. But Laureano was 1-for-13 with seven strikeouts to start the season and a fan base already assigning early failing offseason grades, lumping in sluggish slugger Gary Sánchez, had lost patience.

This is where the plan becomes adjusted on the fly ball.

Laureano began getting regular at-bats with O’Neill, Colton Cowser and Cedric Mullins spending time on the injured list, and Kjerstad struggling and being optioned. He went 16-for-46 (.348) in May with a .423 on-base percentage and .630 slugging in 15 games, and slashed .312/.400/.545 with six doubles, four home runs and 16 RBIs in 21 games last month. The three doubles among four hits Monday night tied his career high, and he roped a 107.2 mph single up the middle.

The man was on fire. Laureano went 12-for-24 in his previous six games before last night. His 10 home runs this season came in 56 games, compared to 90 last season. He’s 11-for-30 with runners in scoring position since May 16 after starting out 1-for-25.

“He’s like one of the best players in baseball right now,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino. “We laugh. Every time he comes up, I tell (Robinson) Chirinos, ‘This is one of the best players in baseball. Nobody talks about him.’ He’s probably pushing a .900 OPS. It’s spectacular defense, it’s baserunning, it’s leadership that you guys don’t get to see. It’s a different style, but a really great style of leadership with all our young players in the clubhouse.

“Nobody talks about him, but this is a really good player.”

That description fit like a baseball glove during his first two seasons with the Athletics, and especially in 2019, when he batted .288/.340/.521 with 29 doubles and 24 home runs in 123 games. The statistical decline was pronounced, and injuries factored into it, but the Orioles are getting the best version of him.

Even with last night’s 0-for-4, Laureano is batting .280 with an .876 OPS.

“I feel like I’ve always considered him to be a really good player,” Mullins said. “Certain seasons can just be tough for multiple reasons. It could be outside of the game itself sometimes. I don’t necessarily know what’s been going on, but he’s locked in and certainly coming in day-to-day very focused and contributing when we need him. He’s picking up the team offensively and helping us get things going.”

Oh yeah, there’s also the arm. His seven outfield assists rank among the major league leaders.

“The arm has always been crazy,” Mullins said. “I remember the highlight of him making the catch right at the wall and throwing someone out from literally the deepest part of center field to first base when he was with Oakland. I was talking to him, ‘Hey, let’s long toss, let’s work on this, work on that,’ just trying to get him to make me a little better.

“It’s always fun. You can kind of feed off guys and try to better yourself through them.”

Oh yeah, there’s also the splits. Laureano was supposed to be a weapon against left-handers, but he was hitting .311/.376/.623 with nine doubles and eight homers against right-handers before last night. Twelve of his last 15 homers since August 2024 have come against righties. So, don’t put Laureano in a box unless it’s the one lined in chalk.

“I think a lot of people are probably a little bit surprised at the production,” said hitting coach Cody Asche. “It’s some serious production we’ve got out of a guy that, I think if you turn back the clock to April, we’d say he’s just playing against lefties, and now he’s smashing both sides, both handedness. So yeah, I would say that’s probably a little surprise there. But process-wise, no.

“The thing that’s most surprising is just like how good he is in the clubhouse and how good he is as a teammate and how good he is to have around all the rest of our guys. I think that’s worth its weight in gold more so than the OPS or the slug and what he’s doing on the field. What he does inside the clubhouse is unbelievable. Just an awesome, awesome person for us to have around.”