Shea Langeliers won the 2022 Futures Game MVP award. When can we expect to see him in he majors, and what will he bring to the table?
- Born: November 18, 1997
- B/T: Right/Right
- 6’0″, 205-lbs
- Drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from Baylor University
The Numbers
His raw numbers are listed above courtesy of baseball-reference.com. Let’s aggregate by year then focus on the important numbers for minor leaguers:
For a batter always known as a power-over-hit prospect, that OBP trend is the most exciting part of that chart above. The strikeouts rise and fall, and we can ignore 2021’s AAA line as that is just 14 plate appearances. Overall he tends to strike out 25% of the time while walking more than 10% of the time. And that’s perfectly fine when you have a .200+ ISO.
So to see good OBP numbers (and climbing!) in a power package, and to see that in a catcher prospect, well, that’s just icing on the power cake (Power Cakes -R- Us would make a great franchise name).
Looking at his monthly splits, he had a struggle in May which impresses me: I didn’t think it was possible to struggle at the plate in Las Vegas! Otherwise his months have shown good on-base ability, decent and mostly great power, strikeout rates that just stubbornly refuse to exceed the mid-20s even when he is struggling, and enough walks to keep that OBP cooking at Power Cakes -R- Us.
He hits righties better than lefties, so we don’t have to worry about him ever being on the wrong side of a platoon at any rate. Besides, his numbers against lefties are fine:
LHP: 10% BB / 23% K
RHP: 13% BB / 24% K
See why it’s better to use BB and K rates instead of BA? The BA can fluctuate through luck or happenstance (“the ball just bounced right into my glove!”), but the walk and strikeout rates tell us Langeliers does well against both types of pitchers.
The Scouts
- Rotowire: #79 on their Top 400
- Fantrax: #128 on their Top 400
- Fantasy Six Pack: #145 on their Fantasy Baseball Prospect Top 407
- Imaginary Brick Wall: #130 on their Top 472
Warnings
He’s going to have good BA months and bad, but his OBP should be good.
He’s a catcher, and they tend to struggle at first while emphasizing working with a major league pitching staff above his own batting prowess.
Sean Murphy is playing well for the Athletics, and he won’t hit his first year of arbitration until 2023. So while the A’s might trade Murphy (it’s their way, after all), they could easily decide to keep him and have Langeliers back him up at best this year.
Conclusion
But in 2023, look out! For what, you ask? Realistically, a struggling first full year in the majors for a catching prospect. Hey, what do you want? I’m telling it the way it likely will go.
But beyond that, we are talking about a catcher who can hit 20+ home runs, do well in OBP leagues too, and has the kind of defense that teams treasure and will keep him fantasy relevant for a decade.
There, is that fun enough for you?