Laureano could fill leader role
MESA, ARIZ. >> In the moments after the Oakland Athletics were eliminated from the 2020 playoffs in the American League Division Series, the emotion in the locker room was palpable. They didn’t want to go home early. Nobody does.
The A’s were sent packing with an 11-6 loss to the Houston Astros on Oct. 8 and were outscored 33-22 in the four-game series. It all left A’s manager Bob Melvin searching for a voice in his locker room, someone to step up and speak to the team.
When outfielder Ramón Laureano did so unprompted, his manager felt the 26-year-old sent his team into the offseason on the
right note.
“I think I categorized it somewhere between a speech and an emotional outburst,” Melvin said Friday. “It was on time, it was on point and the guys heard it.”
Laureano is expected to continue being the team motivator who roared to life last October, especially since former Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien is no longer on the team. With three years of big league experience under Laureano’s belt, Melvin feels as though the centerfielder has earned the right to become a vocal presence among his teammates.
“His leadership comes with his fire,” Melvin said. “That’s always been there.”
Laureano’s growth from a leadership standpoint has seemingly run concurrently with his development as a player. Laureano said he matured as a defender and sharpened his skills with the bat throughout the offseason. Glovework was of particular importance to him.
“I just worked on not sucking,” Laureano said, “and all aspects of the game.”
It goes without saying that the A’s will welcome any improvements Laureano made to his defensive skill set, even as he wasn’t
exactly a liability a year ago. As a matter of fact, Laureano was among the best defensive players in MLB in the abbreviated 2020 campaign.
In 53 games as the A’s starting centerfielder, his ultimate zone rating — a defensive metric used to quantify an entire defensive performance by attempting to measure how many runs a defender saved — ranked No. 19 out of 107 qualified players.
In outs above average, which calculates the number of plays a defender made and the difficulty of them, Laureano ranked No. 44 of 244 players.
It was a strong foundation and Melvin has seen indicators that his centerfielder is still pushing to improve his fielding.
“He’s never going to be
satisfied with where he is at one particular time,” Melvin said. “He’s always going to look to get better. It starts with the curiosity he has.”
That inquisitiveness led Laureano to seek new approaches to baserunning and hitting, too. In his first two years with the A’s, he hit .288 and managed a 129 OPS+. In 2020, though, his offensive numbers dwindled to a measly .213 batting average and an average 100 OPS+.
His production on the bases was down last year as well. After stealing seven and 13 bases in 2018 and 2019, respectively, Laureano stole just two bags in the condensed 2020 season. He was caught just twice in 2019 but only attempted three steals total
last season.
Even after a slow year on the offensive side, Melvin said Laureano is a candidate to hit in the leadoff spot this year, a responsibility the fourth-year big leaguer feels ready to take on.
“I feel extremely comfortable in the role,” he said. “Over the past I have done pretty well and with more time I can do better.”
Laureano hasn’t allowed much to stand in his way of that growth. He said the A’s set a schedule for when players can use the team’s facilities but with spring training games starting on Sunday and the regular season set to begin on April 1 against those same Astros (with whom Laureano has a history), Laureano hasn’t hesitated to get his work in.
“I’m breaking the rules, to be honest with you,” Laureano said. “I’ll show up an hour early because I need my time to work.”
Laureano has played just 225 games at the major league level, so he’s hardly a veteran compared to others who have that title. But Melvin expects a veteranlike presence from one of the league’s best defensive outfielders. Between that and his offensive work, Laureano is eager to start playing again.
“I’m here to win and that’s what I’m focused on,” Laureano said. “Whether I’m batting one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, I’m ready.”