Shea Langeliers might be the best catcher in baseball
How Langeliers has quietly but together a career year
Not enough people are talking about Shea Langeliers. Maybe that is because he plays half of his games in a Triple-A ballpark in West Sacramento. Maybe that is because the Athletics have not made the postseason since the COVID-shortened 2020 season. Regardless, Langeliers has blossomed into one of Major League Baseball’s very best two-way catchers.
As of Thursday, through 44 games, Langeliers has a .322/.394/.578 slash line with a .972 OPS, all career-highs. His 168 wRC+ is the third-best in MLB, only behind Ben Rice and Yordan Alvarez and better than hitters like Kyle Schwarber, Aaron Judge and Corbin Carroll. With 12 home runs so far, he is on pace to hit 44, which would also be a career high. Those 12 home runs are the best among AL catchers, and just one behind Drake Baldwin, who just went on the injured list with an oblique strain. Langeliers is also in the 99th percentile for xSLG, 98th for xwOBA and xBA and 97th percentile for Batting Run Value.
Langeliers is currently second in the AL in batting average behind Riley Greene, and FanGraphs’ Jay Jaffe noted that he could join Joe Mauer (2006, ‘08, ‘09), Ernie Lombard (1938, ‘42), Bubbles Hargrave (1926) and Buster Posey (2012) as fifth catcher in MLB history to lead their league in batting average.
This offensive breakout did not come out of nowhere. Langeliers hit 22 home runs with a .681 OPS during his first full season in 2023, and his homer numbers and slash line have steadily improved every year since. But this season, he has truly become one of the game’s elite.
So, what has caused Lanegliers to make that jump?
Langeliers’ Barrel Rate is at 15.3%, up 4.0 from last season. His average Launch Angle is 20.0, up 3.6 degrees. His Fast Swing Rate is at 52.7%, up 4.6.
It makes a lot of sense why Langeliers is having a career year. He is swinging the bat faster and making more efficient contact, which is almost always a recipe for success at the plate.
“He’s awesome,” A’s pitcher Jeffrey Springs said after Langeliers hit his 100th career homer and 12th of the season on May 13 via MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos. “He’s the heartbeat. He’s such a pro. From the pitching side, everything he does for the pitching staff, commanding the game, and then on the hitting side, you see what he’s doing. It’s unbelievable. It really is impressive to do it on both sides.”
Playing in one of the most hitter-friendly parks, Langeliers has helped guide the A’s starting rotation to a 4.29 ERA, 18th in MLB, but still very impressive given the team’s home park and how unheralded that group was when they began the season.
Langeliers is also in the 95th percentile in Pop Time and 91st in Blocks Above Average and is an above-average Net ABS Overturns of 3.4. While he is not necessarily known as an elite defensive catcher, Langeliers fields the position well enough and is respected by his pitchers.
With Cal Raleigh’s shocking decline this season, the mantle for “best catcher” appears to be wide open. Baldwin, last year’s NL Rookie of the Year, has been similarly dominant at the plate. But outside of him, unless Raleigh re-discovers his form at the plate or Aaron Boone decides to consistently play Ben Rice at catcher, then Langeliers should be in consideration alongside Baldwin for that title.
The A’s have had a lot of success extending their young players. Jacob Wilson, Tyler Soderstrom, Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker are all signed long-term, and the A’s pursued extensions with Nick Kurtz and Langeliers this offseason according to the NY Post’s Jon Heyman.
With Langeliers expected to hit free agency after the 2028 season, the year the A’s are scheduled to move to Las Vegas, signing him to an extension would give the team someone to build around in their new city and their new fans a franchise cornerstone who will be there for years to come to root for.
Despite their 25-24 record, the A’s are currently in first place in a down year for the AL West. Langeliers has been the biggest reason why the A’s have been able to capitalize and put themselves in position to potentially make a run at the postseason.