Shea Langeliers

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Shea Ryan Langeliers

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Biographical Information[edit]

Catcher Shea Langeliers was selected with the 9th overall pick by the Atlanta Braves in the 2019 amateur draft, three years after having been a 34th round pick by the Toronto Blue Jays coming out of high school. The 9th pick was compensation given to the Braves for their failure to sign Carter Stewart, the #8 pick in the previous year's draft. It's not that three years spent at Baylor University improved Langeliers' stock that much, but simply that he was known to have a firm intention of going to college after high school, and as a result teams were not interesting on spending a higher pick on the off-chance that they could convince him otherwise. He was already known as an excellent defensive catcher in high school and confirmed that in college, winning a Gold Glove for his defensive play as a sophomore, but he also reached double figures in home runs all three years.

As soon as he was drafted by the Braves, he was considered one of their top prospects. He started off his career in the South Atlantic League with the Rome Braves, hitting .255/.310/.343 in 54 games. He then spent the 2020 season at the Braves' alternate training site, given the minor leagues were shut down by the Coronavirus pandemic. In 2021, he spent the bulk of the year with the Mississippi Braves of the Double-A South, but also spent a week in AAA with the Gwinnett Stripers. Altogether, his batting line was .256/.339/.494 in 97 games, with 15 doubles and 22 homers and he was named an organizational All-Star at the end of the season. He was slated to open the 2022 season back at Gwinnett when on March 14th he was traded to the Oakland Athletics as part of the package of four players used to obtain 1B Matt Olson, the others being OF Cristian Pache and Ps Ryan Cusick and Joey Estes. It was clear, however, that Shea was considered to be the key player in the deal for Oakland. He was named to the American League team for the 2022 Futures Game and won the Larry Doby Award as the game's Most Valuable Player: he homered off former teammate Jared Shuster in the 4th and threw out Corbin Carroll attempting to steal third base in the AL's 6-4 win at Dodger Stadium on July 16th. He was the oldest player at the game on either team. he was called up to Oakland on August 16th after the A's had released veteran OF Stephen Piscotty to make room on their roster for him. He made his debut the same day against the Texas Rangers, going 1 for 4 with a double and 3 strikeouts as the DH in a 5-1 win. He hit his first major league homer in his next game, on August 17th, in a 7-2 win over Texas. The homer came off Josh Sborz in the 8th inning. In 40 games, he hit .218 with 6 homers and 22 RBIs for an OPS+ of 99.

In 2023, he was a rare bright spot and a glimpse of the future on an Athletics team that struggled badly among rumors that it would be relocating in short order. He played 135 games as the A's starting catcher, hitting just .205 but with 22 homers and 63 RBIs. His OPS+ was 91, largely a function of a poor OBP of just .268, but the A's were not really concerned as the word that season for Langeliers to work on his defensive game, and let the hitting take care of itself in the meantime. On April 9, 2024, he had the first three-homer game of his career and drove in all four of his team's runs in a 4-3 victory over the defending World Series champions, the Texas Rangers. All three homers were hit over 400 feet, including a two-run blast off closer José Leclerc in the 9th inning. In the long history of the A's franchise, only one other catcher - Hall of Famer Mickey Cochrane back in 1925 - had ever had a three-homer game.

Notable Achievements[edit]

  • 20-Home Runs Seasons: 2 (2023 & 2024)

Further Reading[edit]

  • Mark Bowman: "No. 2 Braves prospect Langeliers 'unbelievable'", mlb.com, March 9, 2022. [1]
  • Dave Sessions: "Langeliers right at home with Texas-sized 3-HR night", mlb.com, April 10, 2024. [2]

Releated Sites[edit]

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