Shea Ryan Langeliers (born November 18, 1997) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022. He played college baseball for the Baylor Bears.

Shea Langeliers
Shea Ryan Langeliers standing on a field with his hands on his hips, wearing the Okland Athletics jersey in green and yellow, a green hat, white trousers and yellow shoes
Shea Langeliers in 2023
Athletics – No. 23
Catcher
Born: (1997-11-18) November 18, 1997 (age 27)
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
MLB debut
August 16, 2022, for the Oakland Athletics
MLB statistics
(through 2024 season)
Batting average.215
Home runs57
Runs batted in165
Teams

Early life and amateur career

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Langeliers father, Steve, was a New York Mets fan and named Langeliers after the Mets' home park, Shea Stadium. His father encouraged him to play catcher, feeling it was the best opportunity to succeed in the sport.[1]

Langeliers attended Keller High School in Keller, Texas.[2] He began catching as a high school sophomore.[3] As a senior in 2016, Langeliers batted .369 with six home runs and 31 runs batted in (RBIs).[2] He was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 34th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft,[4] but did not sign and instead chose to attend Baylor University to play college baseball for the Baylor Bears.

As a freshman at Baylor in 2017, Langeliers batted .313 with ten home runs and 38 RBIs in 55 games.[5] He was a unanimous selection to the All-Big 12 Conference Freshman Team as well as being named to the All-Big 12 Second Team.[6] He spent that summer playing in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Chatham Anglers where he was named an All-Star.[7][8] In 2018, as a sophomore, Langeliers missed time at the beginning of the season due to a wrist injury.[9] However, he returned, and finished the year batting .252 with 11 home runs and 44 RBIs in 58 games.[10][11] He was named to the All-Big 12 First Team[12] along with winning a Rawlings/ABCA Division I Gold Glove, becoming only the second player in Baylor history to win the award.[13][14] Langeliers played for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team that summer.[15]

In 2019, his junior season, he was named to the All-Big 12 First Team for the second consecutive year[16] despite missing three weeks due to a broken hand.[17] In an elimination game during the 2019 NCAA Division I baseball tournament, he hit three home runs and had 11 RBIs in Baylor's 24–6 win over Nebraska-Omaha.[18] Langeliers finished his junior year hitting .308 with ten home runs and 42 RBIs in 44 games.[19]

Professional career

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Atlanta Braves

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Langeliers was considered one of the top prospects for the 2019 Major League Baseball draft.[20] He was selected by the Atlanta Braves with the ninth overall pick.[21][22] He signed with the team for $4 million.[23][24] He began his professional career with the Rome Braves of the Class A South Atlantic League, spending all of the 2019 season there.[25] Over 54 games, Langeliers hit .255/.310/.343 with two home runs and 34 RBIs.[26]

Langeliers did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[27] In 2021, he spent a majority of the season with the Mississippi Braves of the Double-A South, slashing .258/.338/.498 with 22 home runs and 52 RBIs over 92 games.[28] Following the end of Mississippi's season, he joined the Gwinnett Stripers of the Triple-A West for their final homestand.[29][30] He was named Atlanta's Minor League Player of the Year.[31][32] He was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League for the Peoria Javelinas after the season.[33]

Oakland Athletics

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On March 14, 2022, the Braves traded Langeliers, Cristian Pache, Ryan Cusick, and Joey Estes to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for Matt Olson.[34][35] He was assigned to the Las Vegas Aviators of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League to begin the 2022 season.[36] He was selected to represent the Athletics at the 2022 All-Star Futures Game.[37] He hit a solo home run and was named the game's most valuable player.[38]

On August 16, 2022, Langeliers was promoted to the major league roster.[39] He made his MLB debut that night versus the Texas Rangers, and collected his first major league hit that night, a double, on the first pitch of his first at-bat.[40] He hit his first MLB home run the next night, a two-run home run, off of Josh Sborz of the Rangers.[41]

On April 9, 2024, Langeliers hit three home runs and drove in all four runs, including the go-ahead two-run home run in the ninth inning against Texas Rangers en route to a 4-3 victory.[42] During a doubleheader on May 8 against the Texas Rangers, Langeliers drove in a career high of 5 runs in the first game and 3 in the second for a total of 8 RBIs on the day.[43]

Personal life

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Langeliers majored in engineering while at Baylor.[44]

References

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  1. ^ "Chatham All-Star Langeliers catching his dream".
  2. ^ a b Lonnquist, Kevin (May 31, 2016). "Keller standout catcher getting ready for MLB draft". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  3. ^ Rosenbaum, Mike (March 5, 2020). "Pipeline Q&A: Braves prospect Shea Langeliers". MLB.com. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  4. ^ "10 things to know about Shea Langeliers". MLB.com. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  5. ^ "Star catcher Langeliers does it all for Baylor baseball". The Baylor Lariat. May 2, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  6. ^ "2017 All-Big 12 Baseball Teams and Awards Announced". Big 12 Sports. May 23, 2017. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  7. ^ "All-Star selection Langeliers catching his dream". Cape Cod Times. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  8. ^ "#51 Shea Langeliers". pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  9. ^ "Bears' Langeliers sidelined with wrist injury". The Eagle. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  10. ^ "Shea Langeliers develops into elite catching prospect". The 3rd Man In. January 23, 2019. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  11. ^ "Shea Langeliers Propels Baylor Baseball Back Into The National Conversation". Baseball America. February 7, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  12. ^ "State Players Honored in Big 12 Baseball Awards". KFOR. May 22, 2018. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  13. ^ "Langeliers Wins Rawlings Gold Glove". CenTexProud.com. June 21, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  14. ^ "Baylor catcher Shea Langeliers named Gold Glove winner". kcentv.com. June 21, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  15. ^ "Baylor Baseball's Shea Langeliers Chosen to USA Baseball National Team". USA Baseball. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  16. ^ "Wendzel highlights Baylor's All-Big 12 selections". KWTX.com. May 21, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  17. ^ "Baylor baseball junior catcher Shea Langeliers out with hand injury". kcentv.com. February 18, 2019. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  18. ^ "Shea Langeliers of Baylor sets NCAA tournament record with 11 RBIs". Los Angeles Times. June 2, 2019. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  19. ^ Ramirez, Dj (June 4, 2019). "Baseball makes history with two first round draft picks | The Baylor Lariat". Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  20. ^ "MLB.com 2019 Prospect Watch". Major League Baseball. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  21. ^ "Braves nab athletic trio of college bats". MLB.com. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  22. ^ Gosset, Brian (June 4, 2019). "Baylor star catcher, who graduated from Keller, drafted 9th overall by Atlanta Braves". Star Telegram. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  23. ^ "Braves sign No. 9 pick Shea Langeliers". MLB.com. June 12, 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  24. ^ Burns, Gabriel; Journal-Constitution, The Atlanta. "Braves sign first rounder Shea Langeliers". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  25. ^ Cheney, Will (June 22, 2019). "Braves assign first-round pick Langeliers to Rome". The Augusta Chronicle. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  26. ^ Shanks, Bill (March 15, 2020). "Shea Langeliers Interview - Part Two". Sports Illustrated Atlanta Braves News, Analysis and More. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  27. ^ "2020 Minor League Baseball season canceled". MLB.com.
  28. ^ Braves, Mississippi (May 4, 2021). "M-Braves release roster for 2021 season". WLBT. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  29. ^ Harris, Chris (September 28, 2021). "Langeliers, Strider promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett". MILB.com. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  30. ^ "Top Braves prospects Shea Langeliers, Spencer Strider joins Stripers for final homestand". Gwinnet Daily Post. September 28, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  31. ^ Burns, Gabriel (September 28, 2021). "Shea Langeliers, Bryce Elder named Braves' minor league players of year". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  32. ^ Bowman, Mark (September 28, 2021). "Langeliers, Elder earn Aaron, Niekro Awards". MLB.com. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  33. ^ "Here are the Arizona Fall League rosters". MLB.com.
  34. ^ "Atlanta Braves acquire slugging 1B Matt Olson from Oakland Athletics". ESPN.com. Associated Press.
  35. ^ "A's get Braves' top prospect Pache, 3 others in trade of Olson". MLB.com. March 14, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  36. ^ "Breakdown of Aviators' opening day roster". April 5, 2022.
  37. ^ Mayo, Jonathan (July 7, 2022). "Here are the 2022 Futures Game rosters". MLB.com. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  38. ^ Ronald Blum (July 17, 2022). "Langeliers wins Futures MVP; HR, nails runner, AL wins 6–4". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.: AP. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409.
  39. ^ Franco, Anthony (August 16, 2022). "A's Promote Shea Langeliers, Release Stephen Piscotty". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  40. ^ "'Surreal moment': Langeliers stars in full-circle debut". MLB.com.
  41. ^ "Shea Langeliers hits first career MLB home run". August 18, 2022.
  42. ^ "Shea Langeliers has 3-homer game, first for Athletics starting catcher in 99 years". San Diego Union-Tribune. Associated Press. April 10, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  43. ^ "Shea Langeliers drives in 8 runs against hometown Texas Rangers as Athletics split doubleheader". ESPN. May 8, 2024.
  44. ^ O'Brien, David. "Braves take catcher Shea Langeliers at No. 9, draft college position players with top three picks". The Athletic.
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