The Padres may have had a better offseason than most folks realize.

Leadoff man Ramon Laureano said his promising start to this season owes in part to his work with Steven Souza Jr., whose hire in November registered only a small blip on the media-and-fan meter.

“I’m very glad I’m with a hitting coach like that,” Laureano said Saturday. “It’s beautiful. It’s a blessing.”

Laureano said Souza’s recent experience as a big-league hitter “helps a lot,” as does his knack for distilling much information into kernels of wisdom.

Souza has brought increased clarity to how Laureano attacks each plate appearance.

“He’s been filtering to me like a 5-year-old,” the leadoff man and left fielder said, “and I like it.”

Laureano, 31, had a fine two months with the Padres last season after arriving in a summer trade with the Baltimore Orioles.

Souza, 36, was an opponent to Laureano within a six-team big-league career that ended in 2022. The former outfielder and designated hitter was a special advisor of hitting development with the Tampa Bay Rays before Padres rookie manager Craig Stammen hired him.

Laureano said Souza impressed him from the start, chatting him up soon after he was hired to replace Victor Rodriguez, who left to become the hitting coach for the Houston Astros.

“We speak the same hitting language,” Laureano said. “He knows we’re living in an evolution in baseball now, when it comes to pitching. Velocity. Spin. Angles. Extension. The whole analytics metrics. He helps a lot with it.”

Laureano has been the Padres’ most entertaining hitter through three weeks.

He’s hunting pitches to good effect and using a handsy swing to smack an array of pitches with power.

The 5-foot-9 right-hander’s improved knack for “lagging the bat” makes hitting connoisseurs swoon.

“He’s able to lag the bat just like the best in the game,” Souza said.

“You have to lag the bat in the zone. You don’t want to drag the bat. There’s a big difference between dragging the bat and lagging the barrel back through and letting it pick up speed as you go. He knows that. That’s the goal every day.”

Laureano’s right-handed pull power suits Petco Park. He has lifted four home runs over the left-field wall this season, recalling Kyle Higashioka’s quick acclimation after coming over from the Yankees.

In a sign of smart preparedness, he is handling some difficult pitches. None was more testy than a tailing fastball from Mariners closer Andres Munoz that Laureano pulled for a double Wednesday, fueling a five-run ninth inning that decided the game.

“He has the ability to — because his hands are independent from his shoulders — to move the ball around,” Souza said.

Entering Saturday’s game, Laureano was batting .290 with four home runs, four doubles, a triple and an adjusted OPS that was 48% above the big league average.

Souza said the success has begun with Laureano’s mental approach.

“Number one,” he said, “he’s very intelligent.”

Twenty games have been played. Like every team, the Padres have hitters who’ve not yet found peak form.

Fernando Tatis Jr. is hitting the ball hard, but had no home runs entering Saturday. Jake Cronenworth’s numbers are way down

On balance, though, the Padres’ offense gets a passing grade. It stands 14th of 30 teams in runs scored, helping the team begin with 13 wins and seven losses. The turnover among Padres hitting coaches in the Petco era argues for caution, but Souza is off to a promising start.