Tom Krasovic: Padres newcomer Ramon Laureano is the right fit in left field

The Padres won’t say this, but if you want to win the ring, you’d better hit a lot of home runs.

The past five World Series champions all have ranked in Major League Baseball’s top four in home runs.

With no one as yet having labeled these Padres the Gaslamp Bombers, it was encouraging Sunday that newcomer Ramon Laureano lofted an opposite-field home run in the 7-3 victory over the Cardinals

Laureano, acquired Thursday from the Orioles, boasts many strengths.

One is home run power — which the Padres needed going into the trade deadline, and particularly from a true left fielder.

The Padres ranked 29th of 30 MLB teams in home runs and had received only seven home runs from their left fielders in the 111 games before Laureano, in his second start with them, whacked a reliever’s fastball beyond the right-center field wall at Petco Park.

Gavin Sheets hit five of the seven homers by Padres left-fielders before Sunday. Sheets, though, is less of left fielder than he is a first baseman or a designated hitter. Other Padres left-fielders had hit just two home runs in 227 at-bats.

Enter Laureano, a natural outfielder with a good throwing arm and a well-rounded hitting style.

Because he’s improved at pulling the ball for power, complementing his inside-out approach, the righty is well-suited to Petco Park.

The 5-foot-10, 203-pounder has pulled eight home runs. That’s why his expected home runs at Petco Park exceeded by three his expected home run total at Baltimore’s ballpark.

With 16 home runs, Laureano has his most since hitting 24 homers for the Athletics six years ago. With an .886 OPS, he’s having perhaps a career-best season.

“Just mechanically, I’m cleaner,” said the 31-year-old, who has slugged .535 in the nearly 300 at-bats. “It’s matching with my approach that I’ve had my whole career.”

Laureano isn’t the only former Oriole who should improve the Padres’ home run rate. Left-handed first baseman Ryan O’Hearn has 13 long balls.

Home run ability was just one piece in the mosaic, manager Mike Shildt said, when Padres leaders sized up the team’s needs going into the recent trade deadline.

“You’re always looking for home run production to increase,” he said,  “but you’re really just looking for winning players. It wasn’t like I said, ‘Man, home run production.’ Winning players is where we pound the table.”

Hitters tend to be wary about talking about attempting to hit more home runs. Swings can grow too long as a result.

“We’re not trying to hit home runs,” said Jake Cronenworth, who pulled a fastball some 400 feet for his ninth home run. “We’re trying to win baseball games and put together quality at-bats.”

Forecast: Preller’s additions of Laureano, O’Hearn and catcher Freddy Fermin, who had two singles Sunday out of the No. 9 spot, will create more attrition of opponents and lead to better matchups, benefiting most Padres hitters.

The team’s whole home run rate will improve as a result. A power uptick from Jackson Merrill, who pulled a three-run triple Sunday of a first-pitch curveball and has been making solid contact for a while, seems probable.

Beyond Laureano’s smooth show of power in a ballpark that doesn’t play small to right field, two other things stood out Sunday.

One, Dylan Cease bringing a 4.79 ERA into the game qualified as a stunning mystery.

Cease has one of the great arms in the sport. It was on display in the Padres’ 7-3 win against the Cardinals. The 6-foot-2 right-hander, smooth, explosive, unified in his delivery, showed a very fast arm. Once he got into a second-inning groove, he resembled an ace.

The national baseball media had Cease traded in both March and the past two weeks.

What happened? Teams indeed showed interest.

Just a guess here: This may have been something of a ruse by the Padres. I doubt president of baseball operations A.J. Preller was truly willing to trade him. Preller knows how to create media narratives without fingerprints attached.

It was demonstrated to Padres ownership, which has financial goals, that while Preller engaged other teams in trade talks regarding the pitcher, moving Cease and his $4.5 million in remaining salary couldn’t be done. The process may have allowed Preller to gather intel from other teams, and to show the industry he’ll stick to a high price.

One last thing for now. It was sad to see the Cardinals play sloppy baseball in two of the three games. In most years, the Cardinals set a much higher standard.