Oakland Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers has provided a highlight in a slow start for his team, batting .375 with five home runs, eight RBIs and a 1.400 OPS over the first six games of the 2026 season. The Athletics sit at 1-5 early on. Langeliers also slugged .891 with seven homers in 19 Spring Training games.
Langeliers entered the 2026 season with rising power numbers, hitting 22, 29 and 31 home runs over his previous three full seasons from 2023 to 2025. Since the 2025 All-Star break, he has hit 24 home runs, second only to Kyle Schwarber's 28 among qualifying hitters, while posting the highest slugging percentage at .683. In those games through Wednesday, no one matched his production against pitches in the strike zone, where he leads with a +18 run value. His strikeout rate against such pitches dropped to 10.2% from 21.1% earlier, with a .390 average and .810 slugging. The 26-year-old backstop's early surge draws comparisons to Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, who set the single-season record for primary catchers with 60 home runs in 2025, including 49 while catching. Raleigh had built up to that mark with 27, 30 and 34 homers in the prior three years. Only seven primary catchers have reached 40 homers in a season, a list led by Raleigh's 60 and Salvador Perez's 48 in 2021. Langeliers ranked second among catchers in barrels (128) and home runs (82) from 2023-2025, trailing only Raleigh. His Spring Training performance added to the momentum with seven homers.
