Atlanta Braves Prospects: Shea Langeliers Scouting Report
Continuing our series of scouting reports on the Atlanta Braves top prospects we take a look at the former ninth overall pick in Shea Langeliers.
After focussing in on some of the top pitching prospects for the Atlanta Braves last week, we turn our attention to the top hitters in the system.
And we start with catching prospect Shea Langeliers who continued to show why he’s already one of the best defensive catchers in all of baseball, while also continuing to show promise with the bat in 2021.
So much so, that he was on the taxi squad in case of an emergency during the Braves postseason run.
A ninth overall pick in 2019 out of Baylor, he was immediately sent to Single-A Rome and slashed .255/.310/.343/.652 with 2 home runs in 216 at-bats.
After spending 2020 at the alternate training site camp, they started him at Double-A in 2021 where he was one of the best power hitters in a very pitcher-friendly league belting 22 of them in 329 at-bats while slashing .258/.338/.498/.836.
While he did get 5 games in Gwinnett to end the season, I do like that the Braves kept him at Double-A for the majority of 2021.
It typically takes catchers longer than others to develop at the plate with everything they have to do behind the plate as a signal-caller and game manager.
Even with the Braves’ lack of depth at catching once Travis d’Arnaud went down in 2021, they couldn’t afford to rush him to the big leagues.
With two veterans in TDA and Manny Pina already on the roster for 2022, it looks like the Braves are hopeful to get him another year of seasoning in the minors.
But make no mistake, he’s the catcher of the future in Atlanta.
The Swing and Approach
Shea Langeliers gets down into a crouch for his stance, not too different than what he does behind the plate.
It’s not nearly Jeff Bagwell-like, but it is rare these days to see somebody with such a closed-off stance.
That leads to a very moderate leg-kick, while there isn’t a ton of movement in the hands. Although, I do at times notice him getting “jumpy” with his hands at times when he loads, which can lead to some swing-and-miss.
He does get his hips through early, but because of that closed-off stance, I don’t feel like he even gets to his full power potential with very little hip rotation.
It’s crazy to think how much power he’s already generating with mostly just using his upper body.
But the bat path through the zone is beautiful and he stays down on the baseball.
2021 Hank Aaron Award winner: @Langeliers23 pic.twitter.com/AYRtvjBLKB
— Bally Sports South (@BallySportsSO) September 28, 2021
I think what impressed me the most when going back and watching several games of Shea Langeliers was the number of times he drove the ball the opposite way like this.
https://twitter.com/mbraves/status/1439009999334871043?s=20
That’s so impressive as a young hitter to be able to drive those pitches the other way. It seemed like he did it at least once in every game I watched.
But if you came in with the heat, he was able to use those quick hands and hips to pull one out on you as well.
The Approach
One thing is pretty obvious, don’t throw this man a fastball over the middle of the plate.
Like most young hitters in the minors, he seemed to be hunting the fastball.
His approach allows him to do this as he can be very patient and wait for when he has count leverage and feels confident he’s getting a fastball.
And that really leads to my only drawback with Shea Langeliers — sometimes he sits on the fastball too much and that leads to him swinging and missing at the offspeed a lot.
In the big leagues, when pitchers aren’t afraid to throw off-speed pitches in 2-1 and even 3-1 counts when you expect a fastball, that could become a problem.
Of course, that’s an adjustment almost all prospects have to make at the big league level.
But there was one game (out of the 10 or so I watched) where the pitcher kept throwing him off-speed and breaking balls over the plate and he was just whiffing on them.
His 26.2 percent strikeout rate at Double-A is concerning, but as long as he’s guessing right 20-plus times a year most teams can live with that at the catcher position.
Defense and Comps
Everyone knows about the arm of Shea Langeliers — it’s the best in all of the minors right now. He threw out nearly 42 percent of base stealers in 2021.
Shea Langeliers' right arm should be registered in the State of Mississippi. #Braves https://t.co/V6J84afm3p
— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) June 4, 2021
He’s also a very solid blocker and receiver behind the plate. And the Mississippi Braves pitching staff was second in Double-A South in ERA at 3.58, so I’d have to say he’s a pretty good signal-caller as well.
Whether he hits or not, his defense will make him a big-league catcher for a long time.
The Comparisons
I don’t know if it’s a great comp or not, but I can’t get Russell Martin out of my head whenever I look at Shea Langeliers.
What’s crazy, is that if you look at Martin’s stance early in his career he was more open and hunched over the plate — and was a better average hitter at that point.
But later in his career, he was more closed with a bigger leg kick — more like Shea Langeliers is now — and that’s when he started being more of a .230-.250 hitter with 15-20 home runs a year.
Martin was also a Gold Glover early in his career with a strong arm.
He’d go on to play 14 years in the big leagues slashing .248/.349/.397/.746 with 191 home runs in 1,693 games.
Martin made 4 All-Star appearances, won a Silver Slugger, one Gold Glove, and got MVP votes in three seasons.
I’d be more than happy as a Braves fan if Shea Langeliers has a similar career.
Projections and Timetable
Again, I don’t think people realize how close Shea Langeliers came to appearing in a game last postseason.
Had Travis d’Arnaud re-injured that shoulder I truly believe Langeliers would have gotten the call to replace him over William Contreras with how much Brian Snitker values defense at catcher in the postseason — and rightfully so.
That being said, I still think the Braves would love to see him get another year of development (with the bat) at the Triple-A level.
But if TDA gets injured for a significant amount of time, which is known to happen throughout his career, Langeliers will get a chance.
They’re not going to bring him up unless he’s going to play every day — and that would take an injury to TDA, and possibly even Pina.
As far as projections go, I kind of gave you that with my Russell Martin comp. I see him being a .240-.250 hitter with 20 home runs, a .320 OBP, and a .750 OPS. I think he’ll carry that 9 percent walk-rate and 28 percent strikeout rate to the majors.
He’ll have years down the road where he flirts with being a .800 OPS player.
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But even with those numbers I project, combined with his defense, that should make him a very good big league catcher for a long time in Atlanta.