Doing curls in the weight room isn’t part of outfielder Ramón Laureano’s pregame routine. They aren’t a superstition after he came off the bench unexpectedly and hit two home runs against the Reds. He’s pumped up, but mostly because he’s getting to play.
Colton Cowser fractured his left thumb in the opening series in Toronto. Tyler O’Neill went on the injured list over the weekend with neck inflammation. The Orioles needed Laureano in the lineup, and he responded with seven hits in a span of 24 at-bats.
Laureano doubled twice Monday night against the Yankees and drove in the Orioles’ first run.
“Love him,” said first baseman Ryan O’Hearn, who hit a three-run homer in a 4-3 win. “He’s a competitor. Man, he gets in there and competes. He’s had some big swings for us lately and I can’t say enough good things. We need to keep him going. He’s definitely a spark for us.”
Laureano’s bat couldn’t reach a temperature to create one earlier in the season.
Reds pitcher Hunter Greene drilled Heston Kjerstad on the right arm with a 99.5 mph fastball, forcing him out of the game in the third inning. Laureano hit a tie-breaking two-run homer and went back-to-back with Jordan Westburg in the seventh.
Laureano became only the fifth Orioles player with multiple homers off the bench and the first since Trey Mancini on June 7, 2017 against the Pirates. He was 2-for-17 before facing Greene, with his main contributions coming from the cannon arm in the outfield that produced three outfield assists.
Asked to explain Laureano’s offensive awakening, manager Brandon Hyde began with one word.
“Playing.”
Hyde recounted how the Orioles broke camp and were idle for three days. Laureano had one plate appearance in the four-game series in Toronto.
“All of a sudden you’re playing every third or fourth day with an at-bat here and there. It’s not easy to do, even for a guy who’s been in the league for a while,” Hyde said.
“Just a product of getting more at-bats, getting more comfortable. He did a great job of staying ready. We talked about all these guys. A few guys in the lineup (yesterday). You need to stay ready because you just never know when you’re going to be in the lineup quite a bit. Ramón has been in different roles in his career and he’s got some experience. Maybe not happy about it, but you understand the situation, and did a great job staying ready and taking good at-bats the last few games.”
Laureano appeared in 123 games with the Athletics in 2019, but his next-highest total is 105 combined with Oakland and Cleveland in 2023, followed by 98 with the Guardians and Braves last summer. He knew that the $4 million free agent contract with the Orioles that he signed on Feb. 4 got him a seat on the bench for backup duty. He’d enter for defense and get most of his starts against left-handers. He was going to be a part-timer with Cowser, O’Neill and Cedric Mullins the primary starters and former second-overall draft pick Heston Kjerstad promised more at-bats than in his past stops in the majors.
Last night marked Laureano’s fifth appearance in the lineup in the last six days, and he played in both ends of Saturday’s doubleheader in Detroit. He grounded out at 106.4 mph in the second inning, and Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe made a diving stop up the middle and threw him out in the fifth to preserve Carlos Rodón’s attempt at a perfect game.
Two of the better at-bats on a quiet night came from Laureano, who walked in the ninth, though he had nothing to show for it.
Must be because he’s playing.
“Yeah, I think so. Yeah, a hundred percent,” he said.
“The more you play, the more you practice in the game stuff, you can continue to use it every day and adjust in the games and things like that.”
One of Laureano’s best traits is the ability to stay positive while the new fan base grows impatient with his slow start at the plate. He didn’t press. He wouldn’t let it get to him.
“Me personally, I don’t feel pressure,” he said. “At the end of the day I just push myself to do good and I’m going to keep trying always. Whatever the results are the results. I can’t really control that. Just hopefully have the right approach against whatever pitcher I’m facing and continue to trust my abilities.”
Assuming that he wouldn’t get in the April 19 game against the Reds, at least until much later, Laureano spent part of the morning experimenting with new biceps exercises that he saw in Instagram.
“I was like, ‘Today’s Saturday. I’m kind of bored. What am I gonna do?’” he said later.
The downtime is disappearing but Laureano usually waits to get in his workouts. There are exceptions, however, like before his two-double game on Monday.
“I did like eight reps,” he said, grinning, “so just one set.”
