Since he arrived in Baltimore in the trade with Seattle, Adam Jones has been followed by labels that sometimes ignite the undoing of young players oozing talent.

Jones is the centerpiece of the Orioles’ rebuilding effort, the key addition in two offseason deals that brought 10 players here. He’s a rising star, the man who could patrol center field for at least the next decade at Camden Yards as he collects multiple Gold Gloves and maybe an MVP award.

While relaxing at his locker on Thursday, before going 2-for-4 in a 6-5 loss to Detroit to keep the hottest hitting streak of his budding career going, Jones — about to turn 23 — was tuning out the din of high expectations with the touch of an old-timer.

“Call me what you want to call me,” he said. “Hopefully, 10 or 15 years from now, some young center fielders will be compared to me. That would be cool. Right now, I’ve got to get better at everything.”

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Nearly 100 games into his first, full, major-league season, what is there to like about this kid, besides everything?

From the way he devours the history of the game, to the way he embraces coaching, studies opponents, engages reporters and corrects his mistakes while understanding how failure will always be even a great player’s companion, Jones has figured out so much in so little time.

Remember the youngster who looked so tentative at the plate in April and May? Jones has improved his pitch selection and sharpened his swing remarkably, hanging on the wisdom of hitting coach Terry Crowley.

During a 40-game stretch that began after June 1, Jones hit .331, raised his average nearly 40 points to .284, and forced his way into the No. 2 spot against left-handed pitchers. He could be hitting behind Brian Roberts full-time before long.

As far as his defense goes, Jones looked comfortable on Opening Day and has never stopped, even when his average was hovering around .230. The lone Oriole to play in every game, Jones committed just two errors in the season’s first 95 games.

But it’s the subtle areas of instinct and judgment — getting a great jump on fly balls, running them down with speed and aggression in the alleys, daring certain batters to hit them over his head by playing shallow, taking the proper angles, taking charge of the outfield — where Jones has excelled after bombing at shortstop in the Seattle farm system.

Between 2004 and 2005 at the Class A and AA levels, Jones made 66 errors in 245 games, before the Mariners moved their eventual, two-time Minor League Player of the Year to the outfield.

“There were balls [Jones] had trouble reading off the bat in spring training. But he made adjustments right away, and I knew we had something special,” John Shelby, the Orioles outfield coach and former standout center fielder, said. “When he does something wrong, I don’t have to jump on him. We talk, he listens, and he puts it into action. He gets it. I don’t want to put any more expectations on him than he already has. But he’s done of lot of good things in a short period of time. He just goes after it. The sky is the limit for him.”

Like Shelby, Manager Dave Trembley has seen enough of Jones’ day-to-day approach to the grind of a long season to foresee greatness. His advice to Jones back in February was simple: Relax, you’re going to play every day. Learn, play hard, stay healthy, get better.

And the kid keeps responding.

“[Jones] is not the same guy you saw in the first game of intrasquad games in spring training. He has a tremendous presence about him,” Trembley said. “He doesn’t let failure get to him. In fact, he uses failure to help himself rebound. That’s probably a quality you don’t see in a lot of people. When he’s 25 or 26, he’s probably going to be a star in this game. No question about it.”

Gary Lambrecht writes about the NFL, Major League Baseball and college sports. He can be reached at glambrecht@baltimoreexaminer.com.