Orioles’ Luis De León thought relievers had it easy. Then he became one.

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Before Luis De León actually tried it, the young Orioles left-hander thought being a reliever was a breeze. They’d come in, face three batters, then hit the showers. They didn’t have to navigate a lineup multiple times like De León did as a starter, or prepare their arms to throw high pitch counts.

Then De León became a reliever.

“Now that I’m in it, I realize that’s not the case,” De León said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones. The 23-year-old prospect has taken his bite of humble pie. “You have to be ready at any point in the game. You have to be constantly moving around, keeping your body ready to go, and then you try to picture and slot where you might pitch in a game.”

Being a reliever, De León has realized, is not so easy at all. Except, despite a hiccup in his debut, De León has at least made this all look easy.

His success, with two earned runs against him in 8 2/3 innings, can be attributed to many things. Orioles director of pitching development Forrest Herrmann recalled one stretch in Double-A early this season when results were going sideways for De León and another two home runs against him on June 17 were added to his unsightly stat sheet.

“That was the moment this whole thing could’ve imploded,” Herrmann said.

Instead, what Herrmann saw from De León reinforced the pitching coach’s belief that De León has something that cannot be taught. After a particularly unfortunate homer in which an outfielder doinked the ball over the fence off his glove, De León approached his teammate.

“Hey, next one,” Herrmann recalled De León saying. The moment was by, and De León didn’t give it another thought. That is what convinced Herrmann — beyond the velocity and the movement — that De León was destined for the highest level.

Moments such as those are why De León is even in Baltimore right now, not as a starter but as a reliever. And it’s why the Orioles felt willing to add him to the roster in Denver, where the ball flies, and why they weren’t troubled when De León’s debut included a home run.

They’ve seen De León handle hardship, and they knew he’d be back the next day as though nothing had gone wrong.

“Even if this doesn’t go perfect, it’s going to be more than OK, because he has the skills, the mental performance, the fortitude to handle some adversity,” Herrmann said of De León’s first taste of the big leagues. “Knowing how Luis is built as a person, he’s very go with the flow and suave, so he can adapt.”

As it turns out, De León is proving that analysis correct.

De León entered the year with high hopes that he’d reach the majors before it finished, and yet, midway through June, his Double-A ERA was 6.08. Still, he recovered, earned a promotion to Triple-A and was soon shifted into a relief role to prepare for a potential promotion.

In his first relief appearance, De León walked three batters. In his next, he allowed a run. In his fourth, he conceded three runs on two homers.

“I didn’t have great results early on in the bullpen, so I felt a bit weird being out there,” he said. “But once I got called up, I just got into that competitive mode, went out there and was trying to attack and get the job done.”

He has found success by living in the strike zone, which Herrmann said is key for De León — as it is for most pitchers.

“When he really got his season rolling in Double-A, it was based on him controlling count leverage, get ahead of guys, and that came from him establishing the sinker in,” Herrmann said. “And really just throwing them over the plate. From there, he had great swing-and-miss options between the slider, splitter and changeup.”

When De León arrived in the majors, his five-pitch mix was pared to three. He said the pitching coaches told him to focus on his sinker, splitter and slider. With a simplified approach, the Orioles felt, De León could better command the strike zone.

Plus, given that De León will infrequently, if ever, face the same hitter twice in the same game as a reliever, he didn’t need the extra pitches to set up later plate appearances.

“It’s about being a master of what can get you through that inning, that matchup, and we felt like he had the tools do that,” Herrmann said. “It doesn’t mean the changeup is off limits or anything like that, but really, gaining consistency and mastery of his mix and controlling counts when you have great stuff, it’s a simple game.”

That’s part of the benefit De León will receive from debuting as a reliever rather than a starter. It doesn’t mean De León will always be a reliever; his potential is high, and the way he has dominated in short spurts could lead to success in longer stretches.

For the moment, however, De León isn’t thinking so far ahead as to whether his future may come as a starter or reliever. He has seen both sides, now, and he has enjoyed the unique aspects of both roles.

“At the end of the day,” De León said, “whatever I need to do to be up here, I’m more than happy to do that, even if that’s picking up bats.”

De León won’t need to add that duty to his list of responsibilities — he has pitched far too well for that.