A’s center fielder Ramón Laureano was a finalist for the AL Gold Glove Award in 2020, for the first time in his career.
“For pure theatrics, he should win it every year,” manager Bob Melvin told NBC Sports California. “And for a guy who looks like everything is instinctive to him, he really gets into the numbers. Jump time. Routes, and so forth.”
From his Oakland and MLB debut back in 2018, it was always clear Laureano had the natural and athletic ability to be great with both the bat and the glove.
With our All Access Daily newsletter, stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams!
SIGN UP HERE But his biggest defensive improvements may have actually come during the time spent off the field, studying the analytics and science to harness his full potential.
“Going that route for him made him better,” said Melvin. “He worked with Ryan [Christenson], worked with Aldo [Mike Aldrete], and how he could get better every day. He’s a pretty complicated guy, he really works hard to find avenues to get better.”
It didn’t come as a surprise to A’s fans that Ramon is now officially "in the conversation" for a Gold Glove Award, and likely is only a matter of time until he actually does win one.
RELATED: Melvin expects Sean Murphy will be All-Star soon
Athletics
Find the latest Athletics news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
Until then, it’s a nice recognition and reminder of steps forward.
“This was really a hook for him because he did get better, “ said Melvin. “Now you can put it on paper, this is what you did. He’ll continue to work hard at that."