Langeliers, A's look to Orioles as blueprint for rebuild, future success

OAKLAND -- Going through his first full season as a big leaguer in 2023, Shea Langeliers set a solid bar with 22 home runs. Based on how his 2024 campaign is going, it might not be much longer before he clears that number.

Langeliers inched the A’s closer in Friday’s eventual 3-2 loss to the Orioles at the Coliseum by clubbing a 411-foot solo shot off Albert Suárez over the center-field wall. The homer was his 16th of the year, which leads all Major League catchers.

“Shea’s got slug,” said manager Mark Kotsay. “When he gets mistakes, he does damage. It’s a good sign for Shea to continue to hit home runs and continue to be that force.”

After hitting .205 last year, Langeliers’ batting average sits at that exact mark through 75 games this season.

Langeliers believes that low number is partially due to bad luck, and Statcast will back that claim, as he entered Friday with an expected batting average of .243. There is also an ongoing refining of his approach that the 26-year-old backstop is working on with the A’s hitting staff.

“I think the consistency is still something I’m working towards constantly,” Langeliers said. “The approach is fluctuating day to day. Just finding that consistent approach to stay there, I think I’ve done a better job this year of having good at-bats. I’ve been hitting the ball hard. It hasn’t necessarily gone my way most of the time. But from last year to this year, there’s definitely some improvements.”

Though Langeliers’ homer was his only hit in four at-bats, Kotsay noted his other plate appearances in the game as signs of his approach being where the A’s want it to be. After flying out in the first, Langeliers struck a grounder to the right side that required a strong play deep in the hole by Baltimore second baseman Jorge Mateo to throw him out at first.

“He had some good at-bats early in the game as well,” Kotsay said. “He hit the ball the other way, which is a good sign.”

Looking across the other dugout during Friday’s series opener, the A’s saw a blueprint for what they are trying to produce from their current rebuild.

From 2017-21, the Orioles suffered through three 100-loss seasons and lost more games than any team in Major League Baseball over that stretch. Through that down period, however, they drafted and developed several players who helped lead a turnaround in Baltimore and assemble a club that holds the best record in the American League.

Going through year three of a rebuild, the A’s are hoping to be on a similar path back to contention in the near future. Counting starting pitcher Hogan Harris, who limited the Orioles to two earned runs in five innings, six of Oakland’s starters were drafted by the organization. Among those are potential core pieces such as Zack Gelof, Tyler Soderstrom and Lawrence Butler.

Even Langeliers, who was acquired from the Braves in the 2022 Matt Olson deal, finished his development in the A’s system and graduated off the club’s Top 30 Prospects List, where he was rated as the club’s No. 1 prospect in '22.

“Their process was really accelerated,” Kotsay said of Baltimore’s rebuild. “Obviously, a lot of that had to do with Adley [Rutschman] and Gunnar [Henderson]. … The thought process is, that’s where we want to be. The goal is to accelerate our process, as well. You’re seeing some maturation in our club from individuals. Now it’s about collectively putting it together and finding the core that’s going to be able to go compete and win night in and night out like [the Orioles] have been able to do.”

In an extremely small sample size, the A’s have actually fared well against the Orioles this season. After taking two of three from them in Baltimore back in April, they hung close with them throughout Friday’s loss despite a three-error game that included a costly throwing error by Langeliers in the first that led to Henderson scoring the game’s first run.

“The thing that cost us the game really came defensively,” Kotsay said. “Overall, it was a sloppy game. But to keep it competitive with a chance to win and a chance to tie it in the eighth with a runner on third base really says a lot.”