Shea Langeliers Is the Best Catcher Nobody Talks About

The Athletics have been on the receiving end of jokes the past few seasons. From penny pinching, poor trade returns, to moving their franchise, there’s enough content for a two hour stand up routine.

However, the A’s started to show signs of a resurrection late last season finishing .500 in the second half. Brent Rooker, Lawrence Butler, and JJ Bleday deserve plenty of credit for the strong finish, but let’s not forget about Shea Langeliers.

Langeliers, Atlanta’s first-rounder from 2019, landed in Oakland as part of the Matt Olson package in 2022. While the rest of the trade package is not exactly strong, Langeliers has has shown steady improvement and proved to be part of the young core establishing themselves in Oakland (Sacramento?).

Offense

If I asked you “How many home runs did Langeliers hit last season?” I bet you’d be about 10 short. After hitting 22 in his first full season (2023), Langeliers slugged 29 home runs in only 137 games last season ranking him second behind Cal Raleigh and just ahead of Salvador Perez.

Oh yeah, both played significantly more than Langeliers. Big names to be sandwiched between.

While I’d sign up for that level of production out of my catcher any year, I think Langliers has an even higher ceiling to reach. Last season was essentially his second full season and the improvements from 2023 lead me to believe there could be more meat on the bone.

On the surface, you might not think these changes are all that drastic. But, the results speak for themselves. Langeliers saw a jump in his OPS from .681 to .738 thanks to a striking out at a lower rate while not sacrificing any of his power. Anytime a player with this level of power output can find a way to make contact more often, good things are going to happen.

If you want to dig into this deeper, and accept a smaller sample size, all you need to do is look at his second half. An impressive .241/.321/.472 line with 12 home runs and a 24.4% strikeout rate in 195 at-bats. That would come out to roughly a 36 home run pace across a full season.

A player like Langeliers is always going to lean more towards hunting home runs and selling out for power, and that’s okay. He needs to be lifting and pulling the ball without much intention for going to the opposite field, an area he also improved on in 2024. His pull rate was the same, but a 10% drop in going to the opposite field help him put more balls into the stands.

Sure, Langeliers has his flaws. A one-trick pony is not everyone’s cup of tea but anytime you can get 25+ home runs out of your catcher you have an advantage. Now, there’s more to baseball than just offense. Defense, especially behind the plate, is important and an area where Langeliers could use improvement.

Defense

More than any other position, poor hitters can make a long career as a catcher. Defense behind the plate, calling games, and controlling the run game carries a ton of value and often moves players out from behind the dish. Through Langeliers first two seasons, he’s not exactly shined defensively.

As a prospect, Langeliers was praised for his arm and receiving ability projecting him to a plus defender. While his arm has lived up to the hype, the rest of his defense needs drastic improvement. Compared to 2023, Langeliers had a minor improvement in his framing metrics, but still has a ways to go before grading out positively.

The bigger issue has been Langeliers blocking. In fact, he graded out at the bottom of the league in blocks above average. Anyone who watched the A’s last season will not be surprised by this.

Several times balls past Langeliers in key situations that either cost the team a run or 90 feet on the basepaths.

So, why am I talking about his poor defense when I am focusing on how good of a catcher he is? Because the improvements can happen. Langeliers uses a “down on one knee” type of set up that many catchers have transitioned in recent years.

This technique helps some catchers with framing, but apparently not Langeliers. He also drops his glove to the ground while the pitcher is in his windup, another common maneuver but one that causes a lot of moving parts.

I am by no means an expert at catcher defense, but I feel like a couple of small changes or tweaks can happen that could help Langeliers improve his framing. It is not that uncommon to see a catcher struggle behind the plate in his first two seasons before improvement in his third.

The Athletics will also have a better pitching staff compared to last season. Not only did they sign Luis Severino, but I think more arms could be added before spring training. Simply having arms with more control and command will make Langeliers’ job easier.

Outlook

I cannot believe I am saying this, but I like the direction the Athletics are heading. Their core is young and cheap, a combination the front office tends to like. Finding a catcher can be one of the tougher steps to take in a rebuild, and I think the A’s have theirs.

Another offseason and more time on task can help propel Langeliers into a different level of discussion. After making major strides in the right direction in 2024, especially in the second half, I have high hopes for a big 2025.

Work on defense, continue to cut down on strikeouts, and keep launching balls over the fence.

If he does all those things, we could legitimately have a dialogue about Langeliers being one of the best catchers in all of baseball.