Langeliers' power, arm earn him Futures Game MVP honors
Mark Feinsand
@feinsandLOS ANGELES -- Shea Langeliers spent plenty of time behind the plate catching Jared Shuster, his batterymate with the Double-A Mississippi Braves last season. So when Langeliers, now in the A's system, stepped up to face the left-hander in the fourth inning of Saturday¡¯s SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game at Dodger Stadium, he had an idea of what was coming.
¡°Knowing the types of pitches that he throws and how he tries to get guys out, I think just having the knowledge of that going into the at-bat and knowing he had a really good changeup gave me an advantage,¡± Langeliers said. ¡°But he's still a really good pitcher.¡±
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Langeliers won the battle of former teammates, launching a changeup into the left-field seats to extend the American League¡¯s lead in what ended up being a 6-4 victory. Partly as a result of that homer, Langeliers -- Oakland¡¯s No. 1 prospect and No. 31 in MLB Pipeline¡¯s Top 100 -- was named the winner of the Larry Doby Award as the game¡¯s Most Valuable Player.
¡°It's crazy,¡± Langeliers said of winning the award. ¡°I came into today just excited to be here, getting to play baseball at Dodger Stadium. It was awesome.¡±
That homer wasn¡¯t his only highlight of the day; the catcher also showed off his arm in the first inning, throwing out D-backs No. 1 prospect (No. 3 overall) Corbin Carroll on a stolen base attempt at third base.
Langeliers¡¯ first-inning throw helped the AL escape an early jam, while his home run provided an important insurance run. The 24-year-old is known for having plus power and a plus-plus arm, so which of his two highlights was the most satisfying?
¡°Throwing the runner out, for sure,¡± Langeliers said with a grin.
The Braves selected Langeliers ninth overall out of Baylor in the 2019 MLB Draft, and then traded him to the Athletics as the headliner in the Matt Olson trade this past March. In 74 games with Triple-A Las Vegas this season, Langeliers is slashing .272/.364/.505 with 16 home runs.
It remains unknown when Langeliers will get the call to the Majors, but for one July day in Los Angeles, he got to experience a big league atmosphere -- and he made the most of it.
¡°It's such a long season. If you don't go day-by-day and you start looking ahead, it could get away from you,¡± Langeliers said. ¡°You control what you can control, and try to get a little bit better each day.¡±
On this day, Langeliers was good enough to stand out above all the rest.
¡°There was a bunch of talented guys out there on the field,¡± Langeliers said. ¡°It was really easy behind the plate with how good the pitchers were. But everybody out there is a super talented baseball player. At the end of the day, it was just fun to get out there and play a game.¡±