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. That game heralded his best season with the bat thus far, as he ended with 29 homers in 137 games, to go with a .224 average and 80 RBIs. In spite of a poor OBP at .288, his OPS+ was 111.

In 2025, with the team now simply known as "The Athletics" following their temporary relocation to West Sacramento, CA, he got off to a good start, hitting 6 homers in March/April and another 4 in May. He had won his battle with Tyler Soderstrom for the regular catcher job, with Soderstrom getting most of his playing time at first base, and then after the call-up of sensational rookie Nick Kurtz, in the outfield. With all three providing good power, the A's were lacking a natural lead-off hitter and on August 5th, manager Mark Kotsay experimented by making Shea his first hitter, the first time of his pro career he had led off. One thing that should be noted is that he had seen significant improvement in the OBP department that season, improving his performance over the previous season by some 35 points. In any case, he did not look to draw walks in that game against the Washington Nationals, as he instead had the second three-homer game of his career and recorded two other hits in a 16-7 win. He was only the second catcher in major league history to have a three-homer game from the lead-off slot, after Travis d'Arnaud in 2019, and the first A's catcher with a five-hit game since Dave Duncan in 1972. And no one had ever hit three homers in his first career game batting lead-off, it goes without saying. After the game, Kotsay explained his unusual decision by saying that Langeliers had been one of the hottest hitters in the majors of late, and that it made sense to give him an extra at-bat by having him lead off; he made a genius of his manager by homering on just the fourth pitch of the game, and going on from there. In the 8th inning, he had the chance to join teammate Kurtz with a four-homer game, but he hit a double instead. He did match Kurtz by being named the American League Player of the Month for August, an honor that Kurtz had copped tin July; during the month, Shea slugged .661 and hit 11 homers with 22 RBIs. He finished the season at .277 in 123 games, with 71 runs, 32 doubles, 31 homers and 72 RBIs, setting new personal bests in all major hitting categories except for RBIs. His OPS+ was an excellent 132.

He started off the 2026 season with a great game, as he went 3 for 4 with a pair of homers against the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. The second of his homers, both solo shots, tied the game against closer Jeff Hoffman in the 9th. The only problem was that his three hits were the only ones the A's got that day, and the Blue Jays managed to mount a winning rally in the bottom of the 9th, winning the game, 3-2. The next day, he hit a grand slam off Brendon Little in the 7th inning, giving the A's a 6-2 lead, but once again the Blue Jays came back, tying the game in the 9th and again in the 10th, and winning it in the 11th. Only one other player in Athletics history had ever hit three homers in the team's first two games - Hall of Famer Al Simmons. He continued his strong hitting in April and was among the American League leaders in hits, batting average and OPS when the month ended. On May 3rd, he went on the paternity list for a few days awaiting the birth of his first child. In his first at-bat following his return on May 7th, he showed off his new "dad strength" in homering off Andrew Painter of the Philadelphia Phillies for his 11th long ball of the year. He added another hit later in the 12-1 win and in spite of the days missed, still led the league with 47 hits at that point.

Notable Achievements[edit]

  • AL All-Star (2026)
  • 20-Home Run Seasons: 3 (2023-2025)
  • 30-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2025)

Further Reading[edit]

  • Mark Bowman: "No. 2 Braves prospect Langeliers 'unbelievable'", mlb.com, March 9, 2022. [1]
  • Martín Gallegos: "Langeliers' leadoff debut a history-maker as 2nd catcher with 3-HR game atop lineup", mlb.com, August 6, 2025. [2]
  • Martín Gallegos: "Dad Strength reigns again! Langeliers goes deep in first AB back from paternity list", mlb.com, May 7, 2026. [3]
  • Dave Sessions: "Langeliers right at home with Texas-sized 3-HR night", mlb.com, April 10, 2024. [4]

Releated Sites[edit]

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