A's C Shea Langeliers joins FT

00:00:09
Speaker 1: Here comes as catcher. Shay Langeleier is joining us right now on ft SHA. Great to have you on the show, oh man. Some of our guys really love you. Trevor May was just on what yesterday. He always talks about you, so you you are a well liked, well talked about man on this show over the course of the years. Just wanted to let you know that as I say hello and butter you up a little bit. Has it going, man, h going good?

00:00:30
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me?

00:00:32
Speaker 3: Of course. Has the season going for you so far?

00:00:36
Speaker 1: With the team here all getting settled and for you off to a nice start at the plate too.

00:00:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's early, still early in the year, obviously, tough to start with six on the road, three at home, six on the road again, two East Coast trips right right off the gate. But you know, we're getting our feet under us. Like I said, it's still early and we're just you know, trying to get into the group.

00:01:01
Speaker 4: Shait, where are you?

00:01:02
Speaker 2: Where are you right now? I am uh Mickey Mickey Morbido's office.

00:01:08
Speaker 4: Oh tell Mickey, I said, Hi, Mickey. Tell Mickey's favorite players is Ie and just see.

00:01:13
Speaker 2: What his answer is. Please all right, I'll let him know. Yeah, Micky will be like, oh, that's son of a gun.

00:01:18
Speaker 4: I promise you. I love Mickey's He's one of the all time greats. It's still sticking around.

00:01:24
Speaker 2: Talk.

00:01:24
Speaker 4: I just want to know about your fast start, dude, like we always, I mean, your nickname has always been bang of leers for your homer. But let's talk about these homers you're hitting. I mean, are you gonna are you going cal RAWLEI on us, You're gonna get to sixty benish second to judge an MVP like Cal.

00:01:37
Speaker 2: Did last year. I mean that would that would be awesome. Yeah, but yeah, I just uh been feeling good at the plate. I think the biggest thing for me is just like when I feel strong and I'm early and on time, that's when that's when the good things happen. So I'm just trying to keep it simple and not trying to do too much.

00:01:57
Speaker 5: No no, no, do too much. Like this seems like just just enough. But how do you as a catcher continue that through the season. Because we were talking about you, but I think it was like two or three weeks ago. I think you're the most underrated catcher clearly in the game, let alone one of the more underrated players because people just don't see without you having a hot start like this, people are like, I wonder who the catcher for the A's is because you haven't gott an extension and all that stuff. But how do you continue it and really put your name on the map for like national media, not just baseball fans.

00:02:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, obviously, catching is a very physically demanding position. I think pretty much every catch, I'll tell you, the only day that you feel one hundred percent is probably opening day, and then there's always something after that, So you're just kind of, you know, grinding, grinding with your body, just trying to get through it. And then kind of like in the box, it's that any given day something can feel off, feel different, so you're always searching for that feel. And at the end of the day, you're just going out there and competing whatever you're working on in the cage. You can't be thinking about that out there. It's just competing, competing with the guy in front of you.

00:03:09
Speaker 4: What what what means more to you if you go out and catch a shut out? I think sev Sevy's pitching today, right, Let's see Sevey goes out, gives you seven and the relievers come in, give you two shutdy and you go for four with a couple of punches whatever. But you know, you guys win five to nothing, seven nothing. Or you go out and you hit two homers and you guys still win, but the pitchers struggle. Which one means more to you?

00:03:30
Speaker 3: Still?

00:03:30
Speaker 4: Now you win in both. So I'm not gonna say like, you win and lose, cause I I I know as catchers were not happy hit guys like you know, there are those guys.

00:03:37
Speaker 2: So which one means more to you? Give me the shuddy every day of the week. Perfect games. Yeah, you get the U you get the pitchers in the flow, you get the starter into the you know, into the game feeling good, and then the bullpen comes in strong and you throw a shut out. That's that's always the best say.

00:03:55
Speaker 5: They never tell. They never talk about how many shutouts A. J. Prazinski had. They only talk talk about his two thousand hits, the fact that he played every single day. What would it mean to what would it mean to you to say, beginning of the season they come in and they go, Shay, we want you to play like one hundred and ten games to keep you fresh? Is that more of a slap in the face than moving down in the order than anything else.

00:04:20
Speaker 2: I don't, I don't know about a slap in the face. I mean, I guess you could. You could look at it multiple ways, right, Like they're trying to keep you fresh, they want you to perform well, feel good. But at the same time, it's like, I want to be the line up every day. I want to play, I want to I want to help the help the team win. So yeah, I mean, I don't think i'd look at it as a slap in the face.

00:04:42
Speaker 5: All right, Well, then we'll talk about what was almost a slap in the face. I don't know if you saw the highlight of Jorge sol Lair charging them ount charging redholl A Lopez, what is your thought process in a situation like that? Have you ever been in a situation like that? And what did you do if you were?

00:05:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean from I've only seen the videos, don't know like the backstory and all that or anything. I haven't really got caught up. But there was there was one game when I was in Lowa in twenty nineteen, in Rome, Georgia, we cleared the benches twice in one game. Then the first time we cleared, I was I think I'd just gotten out, like gotten back to the dugout, was putting on my shin guards, realized that our guys were running out the dugout, so I ran out of the dugout with one shint guard on. So it was caught completely off guard. But yeah, I think in that situation, it's just from what it looked like to me, it kind of caught everybody off guard except for Solayer and Lopez. They were they I guess they kind of knew it was going down or like they were getting into it. But yeah, it just seemed kind of like a weird situation. So hold up.

00:05:48
Speaker 4: So you were with the Braves at the time in Rome, So this is the Braves thing. The Braves just like to fight everybody. Is that what you're saying?

00:05:56
Speaker 2: Put that out there.

00:05:56
Speaker 4: The Braves want to fight everybody?

00:05:59
Speaker 2: No, no, no, not that. I think it was just one of those, uh, just tempers flared and low. I mean, there's a bunch of like early twenty year olds out there on the field and not really knowing what's going on.

00:06:10
Speaker 4: Would you now, do you know what the rule what the first rule of catching is if you're catching, because you said you were in the dugout, so were you catching it? Have you ever caught when a guy is charged him mount?

00:06:19
Speaker 2: I have not, but I know you're not supposed to let him get to the picture.

00:06:22
Speaker 4: That's right, rule number one. No matter what happens, if you, if you die in this fight, Shay, at least go down dying knowing that he didn't get any licks on your picture. Okay, so make sure that if it ever happens, you don't better get there, like if you get a spike to the throat or something. But at least you stopped him from beating up your picture.

00:06:39
Speaker 2: Yeah. If I if I die, I die, I'm gonna Walt Weiss and tackle him, take.

00:06:43
Speaker 4: Him Downe't go mess with Wis.

00:06:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, do not mess with Walt Wisse.

00:06:49
Speaker 3: Wait?

00:06:50
Speaker 4: What years were you with the Braves?

00:06:52
Speaker 2: So I got drafted in twenty nineteen by the Braves and then I was traded the first day of camp in twenty twenty two.

00:06:58
Speaker 4: Okay, so you weren't there for the was gonna ask if you were there for the Donaldson thing, But I think that was before.

00:07:02
Speaker 2: That Uh, yeah, I think it was the year before or maybe I was in I was in low Way when that happened.

00:07:09
Speaker 4: Got it okay, so that wouldn't surprised you then, Okay.

00:07:13
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00:07:19
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00:07:37
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00:07:37
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00:07:37
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00:08:11
Speaker 3: They will take care of you, all right.

00:08:15
Speaker 5: But you're gonna go out and you're you know, AJ's telling you to die. But is there a guy not a guy?

00:08:22
Speaker 4: Not exactly. I didn't say die. I go out there and die.

00:08:25
Speaker 5: I mean, that's exactly what you said.

00:08:27
Speaker 2: That's what we'll clip.

00:08:28
Speaker 5: But either way, either way, is there a guy in the league though, that you look at? Because AJ was talking about Miguel Olivo, I like, one of the largest men in the league, super strong, and he caught him from behind and held his arms. The fight I got in was with Prince Fielder, like another monstrous dude. Is there a guy in the league that you look at and you go if he charges, like, we're kind of pretty good, Like I'll get there at some point, but we're good like not getting in the way. Is there one guy?

00:08:59
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, there there are some guys. But I think it's just like it goes back to what age I said, you gotta do what you gotta do. You know, you got to get in the way somehow, try to get him to the ground and not let him get there. I mean, we're at We're in New York right now. Aaron Judge is huge, so that would honestly probably be pretty terrifying. But I try to do it what I gotta do.

00:09:20
Speaker 4: You know, listen eron again. If Aaron Judge picks you up and grabs you by your your hair ees to eat you. You didn't get to the picture, just remember that doesn't matter.

00:09:31
Speaker 2: I got in the way, Yeah, and then you wait.

00:09:32
Speaker 4: For the big guys to get there, like Nick Kurtz and Rooker and those guys.

00:09:36
Speaker 2: You let those guys get there. I'll just keep the mask on.

00:09:40
Speaker 4: Keep always also another great point, always go veritec and leave the mask on, like right, you don't want to ruin your face, right, So if they punt you, then they hit the mask and then they break their hand and you get to beat them up.

00:09:53
Speaker 2: Exactly.

00:09:56
Speaker 1: We get in a fight with the Yankees because John Carlos stands one of the strongest on the planet.

00:10:00
Speaker 3: But you can't open the bag of chips.

00:10:02
Speaker 1: So that's his krypto that you just dangle it on thee anything else, you're in trouble, Okay, so don't get tackled or anything, but just say.

00:10:13
Speaker 2: Open these.

00:10:18
Speaker 1: Hey, how's the staff, how's the young a staff that you're working with. I know there's a few bets in there too, but just run through some of the guys that you're working with, some of the you know, changes that you've seen, especially ones that you actually saw Carrie through from spring training to the regular season. I know, some guys, especially nowadays in today's sport, you know, it's almost like every guy shows up, they want to do something different.

00:10:38
Speaker 3: And try it out.

00:10:38
Speaker 1: Have you seen anything from there actually translate now to the first couple of starts.

00:10:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's just always like like you said the pictures, it's kind of like hitters too. We're always looking for that next edge, that next way to to get better, take that step forward. But yeah, I mean it's you got like like it comes to mind, like Jacob Lopez had a had a great rookie season last year, where where he's trying to build off that j T Gins had had some success. He's looking to, you know, keep keep getting better and take that next step forward. It's just it's always like it's the it's the simple things that that people like make complicated. It's just refining your craft, understanding that wearing the zone you have success and attacking that. And you know, at the at the end of the day, like hitting, hitting is the hardest thing to do in all of sports. So the picture should be aggressive and attack to strike zone.

00:11:27
Speaker 5: And it's your job to tell him to how to do that, right, Like you're the You're the constant, You're the constant voice he needs to hear when you hit the button and it goes, it goes to basketball ball. But you're playing in Sacramento for your second year. You're out there every single freaking day and it gets hot. One are you glad that they didn't put turf in? And two have you guys figured out some things that helped that I wish I had learned that last year at the beginning of the year.

00:11:59
Speaker 3: And so incremental.

00:12:02
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't think there's really anything that we wish we would have known. It's just kind of like as this season went along, as everybody saw the ball flies there, it's a it's a hitter friendly park. You know. There there were some heat things here and there with the playing surface, but I mean it's hard to expect the playing surface to be, you know, perfect when when more on the road, the Triple A team's playing there, and then when we come home, there's a game on that field every single day. So I mean, the ground screws working their tails off trying to keep keep that thing in shape. But yeah, it does get hot, but I'm I'm from Texas where it gets really humid too and hot, so like, at least at least the humidity is not a thing. And you know, it's a little easier to deal with drier heat.

00:12:45
Speaker 5: Okay, dry heat, I like that.

00:12:47
Speaker 2: Now.

00:12:48
Speaker 5: The biggest question for me when I look it to up and down this lineup, everybody's got extensions except for you, like a guy that in my opinion and AJ's opinion, the lynch pin of the team is the catcher. Short stop is great, center field is great, all that stuff. Those extension talks for you, what do they Is it a distraction for you? Is it something that you want the team to visit more? How do you approach it as a player off season and in season?

00:13:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think for sure, I think in season it could definitely be a distraction. Obviously, the goal is night in, night out. You want you want to go out there performing your best and and come away with a win. Right, But I mean all everything is going to work out the way that it's supposed to. It's not something that that I'm overly concerned about. Obviously. I love the organization, love the guys, love the staff. I want to be here. I want to win with with these guys. But yeah, like I said, it's not something I'm worried about. Are concerned about. It all work out, Hey, Shae.

00:13:54
Speaker 4: One guy that got a nice contract is is Sevy, who you said was pitching tonight. Have you had to talks with him?

00:14:00
Speaker 2: One?

00:14:01
Speaker 4: Have you said, hey, let's we got to figure out how to pitch in Sacramento because his numbers were not very good in Sacramento. I got a little better as the year went on. And two did you watch the World Baseball Classic and where he was throwing a hundred and say to him, hey, man, we need that during the regular season, not just for the dominic game.

00:14:18
Speaker 2: Uh yeah, he looked, he looked really good in the WBC, And like, are we known? Like that's he's got that, he's nasty, he's got he's got the arsenal, he's got the stuff. It's just, yeah, it's just going out there and competing, you know, and then some Knights are they're gonna gonna be rough nights of the nights, we're gonna have a lot of success. It's just kind of trying to be as consistent as possible and be the same guy every day. But yeah, I think it's it was kind of a curveball for Sevy pitching in Sack that first year, just because there's certain things you get accustomed to when you're in the big leagues. Like he in between things, he's a guy that likes to go back into the clubhouse of the weight room or the batting KHB in the air conditioning, sit down, relax, look at the iPad kind of like rewatch that last inning where we didn't have anywhere for him to go in Sacramento, Like he's not going to go all the way back to the clubhouse behind the left field wall, so he's kind of just still sitting out there in the heat in the dugout. He's got all the like there's you know, there's twenty six guys in the dugout just walking around like everybody's kind of in everybody's way, so there's a lot of things to adjust to on the fly, and we were trying to figure like he was trying to figure that out. We were trying to figure out a way for him to be more comfortable and have more success. And I think when the second half of last year showed that like, we started to figure it out.

00:15:34
Speaker 5: Wait, I need to I need to know what his what his setup looks like. Because when we played together in New York, he had his chair and then on the chair there was two towels, there was an extra jersey hung behind him, there was a cooler filled with his drinks in the cooler, and then there was towels to the right. Is it's still the same because that was young Sevy. This is older Sevy now.

00:15:58
Speaker 2: Couldn't couldn't have just I have the picture better myself. It's the exact same.

00:16:03
Speaker 5: Does he have the does he have the towel in front of him where he puts his feet down, if he takes his cleats off, or does he not do that anymore?

00:16:11
Speaker 2: I haven't. I haven't seen that one. But he's he's got the towels in there, he's got his own waters and his cooler, he's got he's got the chair, he's got the extra jersey, he's got all that stuff.

00:16:21
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's like a whole throne. It's like a game. But anyway in game, the abs Now that you're kind of you're kind of in it. You're not a full season in or even a quarter of the season in. But what have you noticed from it? And have you had any good stories where like a pictures like, Bro, why didn't you do this like you told me I could?

00:16:40
Speaker 2: What what? Yeah? I mean obviously, I think we all know pictures think everything's to strike as they should. You know, they're out there, they're out there competing, they're the ones with the ball. So like I I, we want them to think that way. We want them to think aggressively. Uh abeyes it is. It's been interesting. It's something that we're gonna keep getting used to. I think the the tougher part from he is kind of understanding where the top of the zone is. I think that one's the one that kind of changes the most here and there. I think I've got a better general idea of where the bottom of the zone is on each individual guy. And then the thing, the thing that I've noticed that comes into play the most is where these guys are standing in the box, if they're all the way in the back, if they're at the front, Because like as catchers, we move up when they move up, we move back when they move back, And that eight and a half inch back mark on the plate for the bottom of the zone doesn't change. So like I could be closer to that, I could be further away from that, and that kind of changes the perception of where the bottom of the zone's at all.

00:17:35
Speaker 5: Right, last one for me, do you think cal Riley should have been the MVP?

00:17:40
Speaker 2: Yes? And that's that's I'm not I'm not taking anything away from Aaron Judge. Aaron Judges, you know, the best player in baseball. It's either him or Scholeton, and everybody knows that. I just think when a catcher puts together a season like that, just knowing, like like we all know the grind of what we go through through in season. He's got all the pitching meetings, doing all the scouting. He's catching night to day games. There was there was a game we were in Seattle. He caught the first two night games, came out, caught the third game day game at like twelve thirty one o'clock. Whenever it was Logan Gilbert was on the mound. He blocked like fifteen splitters in the dirt and hit two Homers that day. So it was like he's just he was he's doing he was doing things that catchers have never done before, and in my opinion, I think that that should have been.

00:18:28
Speaker 6: The m v P.

00:18:30
Speaker 4: Say, by the way, Aaron Judge is going to hear what you just said, and he might charge the catcher. Now, he might go. I don't know if you if you ever saw the Izzy al Kintara where he dropped kicked the catcher, you might be careful. You better when Aaron Judge walks up. You just better say hi, mister Judge, Yes you deserve the m v P.

00:18:47
Speaker 2: Please don't kill me. He put me on that catcher's interference last night, so maybe he he already got that out.

00:18:55
Speaker 4: Oh he already knew what you were going to answer.

00:19:01
Speaker 3: I'm sorry, Yeah, he's.

00:19:03
Speaker 4: A catcher, Scott, we're catchers. Did you get through these things?

00:19:06
Speaker 3: Don't even feel it next day?

00:19:09
Speaker 2: That's right, Shay.

00:19:11
Speaker 4: People that don't know you were drafted. You went to Baylor, you were drafted by the Braves, So did you go to the Brave and say, listen, I have to wear green and gold, so you have to trade me to the Athletics so I can just keep my wardrobe green and gold for my whole life.

00:19:26
Speaker 2: No, it was it was kind of like, you know, it's one of the one of those things. I was just caught off guard, you know. I think twenty twenty two is the the lockout had just ended. The non forty man guys were already already there at at the Spring Trading facility, so I was already there for a couple of weeks. But then the lockout ended, so Big League camp started. We just had like our big compliance meeting where it was like an hour long roll in like the huge theater or whatever. They're talking through like the rules and like social media and stuff like that. And then we had just started doing day one catcher's work and then I got called into the office and yeah, I guess you guys know how they do it just kind of rip it off like a band aid, just like because the whole deal that off season was if if Freddy Freeman was going to come back or not, and obviously we all he wound up signing with the Dodgers and they needed a first baseman, so they went and got metals. Good for you.

00:20:21
Speaker 3: Wow, there you go. Well, the green and gold looks good on you. I'll tell you that. Keep doing ud. Yeah, it's fun to watch.

00:20:28
Speaker 1: I love listening to you three just talk all about the catcher's perspective throughout this, you know, last twelve.

00:20:33
Speaker 3: Minutes, so I really appreciate it.

00:20:35
Speaker 1: Dude, thanks for joining us, and good luck tonight and the rest of the way until we catch up again.

00:20:40
Speaker 2: Appreciate it. Thanks guys, thanks for having me.