10 things to know about Shea Langeliers
Baylor catcher is B
Thomas Harrigan
@HarriganMLBThe Braves selected Baylor University catcher Shea Langeliers with the ninth overall pick in the MLB Draft on Monday. Here are 10 things to know about Langeliers, MLB Pipeline's No. 10 overall Draft prospect.
? Langeliers split catching duties with Oregon State's Adley Rutschman, the No. 1 overall Draft pick, on the USA Collegiate National Team last summer.
? Rutschman and Langeliers were both selected within the top 10 picks. It's the first time that more than one catcher has been taken in the top 10 since 2008, when Buster Posey went fifth overall to the Giants, Kyle Skipworth was taken sixth by the Marlins and Jason Castro went to the Astros at No. 10 overall.
? Langeliers is the first player from Baylor to be selected in the first round since Aaron Miller, who went 36th overall to the Dodgers in 2009. Other first-round picks from Baylor include Mark McCormick (Cardinals, 43rd overall in 2005), David Murphy (Red Sox, 17th overall in 2003), Jason Jennings (Rockies, 16th overall in 1999), Kip Wells (White Sox, 16th overall in 1998), Scott Ruffcorn (White Sox, 25th overall in 1991) and Pat Combs (Phillies, 11th overall in 1988).
? Langeliers is renowned for his defensive prowess behind the plate, and he was the 2018 Rawlings/ABCA Gold Glove recipient as the best defensive catcher in college baseball. Other notable catchers to earn that honor in recent years include Posey (2008), Yasmani Grandal (2010) and two players who recently made their MLB debuts, Garrett Stubbs (2015) and Will Smith (2016).
? His arm is especially strong, as he threw out 22 of 32 potential base stealers (68.8%) as a sophomore in 2018 and has caught 13 players stealing in 23 chances (56.5%) as a junior. Langeliers has shown the ability to produce 1.7-second pop times in workouts and 1.8-second clockings during games. The Major League average pop time on steal attempts of second base is 2.01 seconds, and an average in the 1.9 range is considered elite.
? Langeliers was named a second-team All-American at catcher in 2018 behind Georgia Tech's Joey Bart, who received first-team honors before being selected by the Giants with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 Draft.
? While he likely would have been selected in the first round on the strength of his defense alone, Langeliers has improved his offense this year, hitting .304 with seven homers and just 27 strikeouts over 171 at-bats despite dealing with a hamate injury. He hit 11 homers as a sophomore but also batted only .252 with 45 K¡¯s in 226 at-bats.
? Langeliers hit a walk-off single vs. TCU to give Baylor its first-ever Big 12 Conference Tournament championship in 2018, and he shared the tournament¡¯s Most Outstanding Player Award with teammate Cody Bradford.
? Langeliers attended Keller (Texas) High School, which counts Dodgers infielder Max Muncy and Indians reliever Jon Edwards as alums. Muncy is also an alumnus of Baylor.
? He was previously drafted, as the Blue Jays picked him out of high school in the 34th round of the 2016 Draft. Langeliers opted to attend Baylor instead of signing with the Jays.