TOKYO — Things were a lot different for Ramón Laureano just a year ago.
Around this time in 2018, the A’s center fielder was frustrated in extended spring training down in Arizona in the aftermath of breaking his left pinky finger after he was hit by a pitch in a Cactus League game. The injury robbed him of re-establishing himself as a top prospect with his new organization after the Houston Astros had soured on him and eventually traded him to Oakland earlier that offseason.
Now in 2019, he earned the honor of stepping to the plate against Marco Gonzalez for the first at-bat of the regular season as the A’s leadoff man against the Seattle Mariners from the Tokyo Dome.