KANSAS CITY — This has not been like riding a bike to Tyler Wells.

“I think the process is, obviously, slower than what many people kind of think,” the Orioles right-hander said. Wells, a reliever-turned-starter-turned-reliever again, is figuring out the rhythm of the mad rush that is life in the bullpen of a Major League Baseball team.

“Personally, I thought the process, myself, was going to be a little bit easier than it actually has been, just because I have done it before in the past,” Wells said.

But the last time Wells was a full-time relief pitcher was 2021. And in 2023, when he pitched out of the bullpen toward the end of the season, Wells already had more than 100 innings under his belt, so his arm was loose and ready.

Early this season, Wells is rediscovering what it means to prepare for a game in minutes rather than days. That’s the life of a reliever. Yesterday? There is no yesterday when that bullpen phone rings and coach Hank Conger yells your name.

What Wells experienced Sunday during the series finale against the Cleveland Guardians may have been the breakthrough required. It stemmed from conversations with four people — his mental skills coach Brian Cain and three Orioles pitching coaches — and it shifted the way Wells prepares to pitch at a moment’s notice.

He doesn’t need to throw full-strength right away. Instead, he pictures a ladder. He can afford to take it one rung at a time, building his intensity with each warmup throw on the mound, before the bullpen door opens and he runs into whatever situation the Orioles are handing him.

“The biggest issue I had with myself was I really rushed into it,” Wells said. “I really tried to get moving fast and try to throw hard right out of the gate to really get everything warmed up. Versus, like, being able to take my time, breathe through it, really be able to climb a ladder with my intensity and being able to carry that into the game.”

When the bullpen phone rings, Wells said, it’s almost like a fire alarm. “The adrenaline spikes, everything goes,” he said. But in his first few outings this season, Wells realized the full-throttle approach to warming up and pitching out of the bullpen caused issues with his mechanics.

His timing was off. The faster his thoughts spun, the more imprecise his delivery became. Through Wells’ first eight games, he allowed 12 hits and six earned runs — and that included three runs against him in the 10th inning of Baltimore’s loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks last week.

After that loss, Wells spoke candidly with members of the media at Camden Yards. He said his disappointing start was something he couldn’t run from. Instead, he’d face it head on.

First, Wells called Cain, the mental performance coach he hired this offseason. Cain, who also works with former Orioles pitcher Corbin Burnes, reiterated the need to stay “under control in our minds.”

“It’s funny I hired him this offseason and then all of a sudden, it’s like, I’m kind of in for it for one of the most difficult mentally taxing, tough challenges there is, going from a starter to a reliever,” Wells said.

Having Cain available helped Wells turn a disappointing extra-innings loss into a growth opportunity. He faced one batter the next day and struck him out. And over two innings Sunday against Cleveland, Wells struck out five of the six batters he faced.

His fastball was lively, averaging 94.6 mph compared to 93.4 mph in his other outings this year. Manager Craig Albernaz noticed “as soon as he stepped on the mound, he was on the gas pedal. He was on the throttle.”

But there was a difference between Wells’ mindset and his physical output. He climbed the ladder, as he says, during his warmup. He focused on mechanics and timing. And once he reached the top rung, he was ready to put together his best outing of the season.

“That’s why I say we can let the adrenaline move us fast, but we need to keep our body slow,” Wells said. “We can’t get away from ourselves and what we typically do in our everyday catch play and practice.”

Wells is in this position because of the depth Baltimore built in its rotation. Given Wells’ previous experience handling a relief role, it made sense to shift him early in spring training. And he didn’t hide from the responsibility. Wells told the coaching staff during the spring that he’d like a chance to prove himself in high-leverage roles.

The results so far have been mixed. “He’s had really good outings early in the year. He’s had some bad ones,” Albernaz said. But if Wells can remain even-keeled, he has the potential to create more of the former.

In 2021, when Wells pitched exclusively out of the bullpen for the Orioles, he repeated a phrase to himself: “Control chaos in my mind.”

That chaos may have gotten the better of him at times during his second foray as a reliever. But in Cleveland — and the rest of this season, Wells hopes — a new phrase could be the key for Wells’ mental preparation.

“This time around, we get up there and climb the ladder,” he said. “Climb the ladder with intensity, we stay synced, we feel everything up, and things like yesterday [Sunday] happen where, I think, out of 23 pitches, I think I executed 18 of them to my satisfaction. That’s a testament to making sure I stay under control.”