A's Shea Langeliers Upping His Game in 2024
A's catcher Shea Langeliers has had expectations heaped upon him since he arrived in Oakland due to how he was acquired. Before the 2022 season, the Oakland A's traded away fan favorite Matt Olson to the Atlanta Braves, and Langeliers was arguably the centerpiece of that deal.
The backstop would make his big-league debut that season, and then took over as the team's starting catcher once the club traded Sean Murphy to Atlanta before the 2023 campaign. There was a lot for him to take on in last season. Not only did he have to catch an entire pitching staff that was trying to find their own footing in MLB, but he was also trying to live up to some of the expectations surrounding him. He ended up hitting .205 with a .268 OBP and an 87 wRC+ (100 is league average) while striking out 29.2% of the time.
This season the bat has shown flashes early on, even though the overall numbers aren't quite there through ten games. He's hitting .179 with a .250 OBP and a 62 wRC+, though his strikeout rate has dropped a little over four percent. It's still early, and Langeliers was mentioned by numerous guys in the clubhouse as their breakout pick this season, so there is reason to believe that he has more in store in the next 152 games.
When taking a look under the hood of his offensive profile, Langeliers is actually barreling the ball up a decent amount, 6.3%, or third-most on the team behind J.D. Davis (8.1) and Brent Rooker (6.5). That has led to an expected batting average (xBA) that is a bit higher than what he's produced thus far at .222. He's seeing more breaking pitches this year, since they gave him the most trouble in 2023, and he's currently 4-for-11 on them, though his xBA on breakers is hovering around the Mendoza Line.
The big factor that should catch people's attention however, is his subtle improvement behind the dish. It's still very early in the season, but among catchers with at least five attempts throwing to second base, he is currently tied for first with one of the best backstops in baseball, J.T. Realmuto, in pop time. They have both put up 1.86 seconds, yet Langeliers has a pretty decent advantage when it comes to arm strength. When he throws to second, it's headed out at 86.6 miles per hour, compared to Realmuto's 85.1.
With catchers. the difference between a caught stealing and a stolen base is fractions of a second. Currently, Langeliers has a pop time of 1.84 when he throws the runner out, and 1.87 when the runner beats him. Being in this echelon of catcher is a big deal. When you lower the minimum to catchers that have made at least one throw instead of five, a couple more names pop up in Houston's Korey Lee, and St. Louis' Willson Contreras. Langeliers is tied for third with Realmuto and former A's catcher Christian Bethancourt.
Last year Langeliers finished with a 1.90 pop time, which, as we just went over, leads to more stolen bases. He was ranked seventh and tied with five other catchers at that mark. Last year he ranked in the 97th percentile in caught stealing above average according to Statcast. This year, with a slightly better pop time, he's in the 100th percentile.
His blocking has also been better in the early going. He went from ranked in the first percentile in 2023, up to the 34th percentile this year. While that's still below average, it's a huge jump. His framing is still hovering around the tenth percentile this season.
What this all adds up to is fewer runners in scoring position and less pressure on the pitching staff, which should lead to fewer runs allowed over the course of the season. On the year he has allowed seven steals in ten attempts, but four of those stolen bases were by Jarren Duran of the Red Sox, who ranks in the 96th percentile in sprint speed. Against regular base stealers he'll be just fine.
Langeliers may not be wowing the masses with his breakout just yet, but it does look like there will be some version of a leap forward taken this season. It's fitting that Aledmys Díaz compared him to Realmuto before the season began, because right now he has a real chance to be that caliber of catcher by season's end.