Oakland A's 2023 Player Outlook: Shea Langeliers

When the A's traded Matt Olson to the Atlanta Braves before the 2022 season, Shea Langeliers was arguably the biggest piece of the return in that deal. Not only because of his talent level, but because the A's were making it very clear that Sean Murphy would also be available before long. This off-season, the A's front office shipped Murph to Atlanta for another package of prospects, meaning that Langeliers is set to take over the full-time catcher duties for Oakland in 2023. 

In his first taste of the big leagues, Shea played in 40 games, but started just 14 behind the plate. When he was the A's catcher his bat did some damage and he went 15-for-55 (.273) with a .317 OBP and a .935 OPS in 60 plate appearances. 

As a DH he got 93 plate appearances, but walked less often, struck out more often, and actually hit fewer home runs (4 while catching, 2 as DH), while batting .184 with a .226 OBP and a .536 OPS. Overall he ended up hitting .218 with a .261 on-base and a .691 OPS for the season, while being roughly league average in terms of OPS+ and wRC+, which put him two to three percent below average. 

In 92 games with Las Vegas last season, the right-handed bat collected 19 homers and 56 RBI, batting .283 with a .366 on-base. He also walked 10.7% of the time and struck out 21.9% of the time. In the small sample he received in the big leagues, he walked just 5.9% and struck out 34.6%. 

So what should we expect from Langeliers in 2023? 

The 25-year-old backstop is projected to be roughly league average once more this season, which isn't bad by any means. Murphy debuted in 2019 and performed well above league average over his first 200 plate appearances across two seasons, but in his first full 162 game season at the age of 26 in 2021, he finished with a 100 wRC+, or exactly league average. 

ZIPS projects Langeliers to hit .225 with a .289 OBP, bang 18 homers, drive in 57, and end up as a 2.5 WAR player. They also have him finding a happy medium between his Triple-A walk and strikeout numbers and the ones he posted in the big leagues last season, projecting him for a walk rate of 7.6% and a strikeout rate of 28.5%. 

His defense behind the dish isn't quite elite like Murphy's, but he's solid. In terms of controlling the running game, his pop time to second ranks in the 79th percentile of all catchers at 1.93 seconds, and sits tied with Adley Rutschman, Willson Contreras, and Will Smith, three pretty good defensive catchers. 

Langeliers also ranked in the 85th percentile in sprint speed--not just among catchers, but all players. At 28.7 feet per second, he was also the fastest player on the A's last season, just beating out Cristian Pache's 28.6 feet/second by a nose. New addition Esteury Ruiz takes that title heading into 2023 after moving 29.8 feet per second with the Brewers last season. 

While we're going to be looking at Shea's counting stats to analyze how he's holding up in 2023, the real test for him is going to be how well he adapts to the ever-changing pitching staff. There are going to be guys moving in and out of the rotation and the bullpen, and he's going to have to make adjustments routinely. 

This is how Langeliers can have a huge positive impact in 2023, even when his bat has cooled off. Every player goes through slumps, and this will be his first full season in the bigs, so some growing pains are to be expected.  

If he can learn from Manny Piña, the 35-year-old veteran backstop the A's acquired in the Murphy deal to back up Langeliers, and create a good rapport with guys like Shintaro Fujinami, Ken Waldichuk, and Kyle Muller, then he could also be setting up the team for success in future seasons as well. 

This year is a big one for Shea Langeliers. Not because he needs to earn his place on the roster. He more or less has the starting catcher job for the foreseeable future. But this season will be about laying the groundwork for what is to come in 2024, 2025, and beyond. 

Fun Fact: The last time Langeliers, Muller, and Pache shared a field was in Triple-A in 2021, as part of Shea's five-game cup of coffee at the end of the season. Langeliers collected his first two hits in Triple-A that night--two doubles--drove in one and scored twice. Muller went 3 innings, gave up 4 hits and one run, walking three and striking out eight. Pache went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.