A’s hard-working Langeliers ready for a full-time role

MESA, Ariz. — The Athletics did a lot of rebuilding this offseason following a 102-loss season. Shea Langeliers has been working hard this spring to prove there’s one spot they won’t have to worry about.

The 25-year-old catcher is the most advanced of Oakland’s young prospects and he’ll be taking on a full-time, starting role after just 40 games in the majors last season.

Langeliers has to make up for the loss of Sean Murphy, the A’s catcher who developed a commanding presence at the plate and behind the it over the last four seasons before being traded. But there’s reason for optimism that Langeliers is up to the task.

Putting so much trust and faith in a young catcher can be difficult, but veteran A’s pitchers Paul Blackburn and James Kaprielian are confident Langeliers is the right guy for the job.

“He fits right in and he’s prepared,” Kaprielian said. “He’s got the tools and the skills and now he’s just going to have to produce on a consistent basis. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s ready to fill in and be that starting catcher for us.”

Last season, Langeliers spent a majority of his season in Las Vegas with the A’s Triple-A affiliate before getting called up in mid-August. He then appeared in 40 games where he ran hot and cold at the plate, hitting .218 with six home runs and 22 RBIs and a .691 OPS.

This spring he is already off to a better start; Langeliers has homered twice and is batting .250.

His work ethic, growth and skills have been enough to impress manager Mark Kotsay, noting how Langeliers has been adjusting to the starting role.

“He’s done a great job with coming into camp and being prepared to take on his workload,” said Kotsay, who is beginning his second season as manager. “His maturation from last year to this year and his engagement with the pitcher shows what he took from last year’s experience being here.”

Last year, Langeliers was able to learn and train behind Murphy, one of the top defensive catchers in the game. Blackburn believes those lessons learned from Murphy were invaluable for Langeliers.

“He was a guy that was always following (Murphy) around, asking awesome questions and trying to learn as quickly as he could,” Blackburn said.

This season, the catching roles are somewhat reversed. Manny Pina, a nine-year veteran, will be behind Langeliers. Pina is recovering from a wrist injury that landed him on the IL, but he hopes to return a couple weeks after Opening Day.

Even though the starting role is Langeliers’ to lose, pitcher Kyle Muller doesn’t see his longtime friend losing the job any time soon.

“He’s the perfect candidate for it,” Muller said about his roommate. “I haven’t been here too long to see his progression from last year to this year, but from the time I’ve known him, it was only a matter of time.”

Muller, who grew up playing Little League and high school baseball with Langeliers in Texas, has been impressed with his friend’s maturity and growth.

“We still joke around,” he said. “But it’s just that understanding of what it means to be professional.”

Kaprielian said Langeliers’ maturation is most evident in understanding what it means to be named the starting catcher. He said they’ve had a number of one-on-one conversations, where Kaprielian reminds Langeliers that he is the guy in control.

“He’s embracing it and just buying into it,” Kaprielian said. “Although he’s a younger guy with not a lot of service time, that position on the field, you’re kind of the commander of the team. I’m looking forward to him hopefully stepping into that this year and in the next few years.”

To adjust to his role, Langeliers has done a lot of work over spring training, namely working on his timing and finding his approach hitting. Defensively, he said he worked on a little bit of everything, including framing, blocks, pop ups and, most importantly, his work with the pitchers.

Kaprielian, Blackburn and Muller have enjoyed working with Langeliers and said there have not been any difficulties.

Blackburn has been impressed with Langeliers’ knowledge and preparation, which is helping the catcher develop a commanding presence on the diamond.

“Every catcher is unique,” Blackburn said. “He’s always there talking about what he sees and trying to get on the same level as the pitcher sees. As a pitcher, you can’t really ask for anything more.”

Langeliers said part of his secret to forming strong bonds with his pitchers is getting to know them as people and building friendships. The work has been noticed.

“Everyone that I’ve talked to pitching staff wise loves him,” Muller said. “It’s cool having a friend back there because we’re on the same page.”

Those friendships allow the players to be more direct with one another and be honest about things they need to change during a particular game.

Langeliers, for one, can’t wait for the real games to begin.

“I’m just excited and ready to go,” he said.