Injured in the 1st, Langeliers guts it out until the 4th with left thumb injury

WEST SACRAMENTO -- Jack Perkins didn’t even know anything was wrong.

For more than an hour, Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers had shown little sign he was battling a left thumb injury dating back to a first-inning passed ball. Until backup catcher Jonah Heim strode into the on-deck circle in the fourth inning, not even Perkins -- the A’s starting pitcher Friday against the Marlins at Sutter Health Park -- knew Langeliers was hurt.

“I had no idea, but that’s kind of who Shea is,” Perkins said. “He’s a warrior. That’s why he is our backstop. He’s just such a tough guy and teammate.”

But even the stalwart Langeliers couldn’t avoid the recent rash of injuries plaguing the A’s. After his early exit in Friday’s 12-5 loss, the catcher was diagnosed with a left thumb contusion. Initial X-rays were negative, according to manager Mark Kotsay, but Langeliers will be reexamined on Saturday.

Amid their current circumstances, the A’s can’t afford for Langeliers to miss any time. On Monday, they placed shortstop Jacob Wilson (right thumb inflammation) and outfielder Tyler Soderstrom (left hip soreness) on the 10-day injured list. On Wednesday, they announced that designated hitter Brent Rooker will undergo knee surgery and miss the rest of the 2026 season.

With Langeliers banged up and second baseman Zack Gelof (right hand contusion) and center fielder Denzel Clarke (left hamstring strain) among their players on the IL, the A’s aren’t far from having an entire starting lineup on the shelf.

That could explain why they’re 1-3 since Wilson and Soderstrom landed on the IL, although on Friday, their pitching had a lot more to do with the loss.

Perkins put the A’s in an early hole by allowing six runs in the first inning, finding too much of the plate on pitches to Heriberto Hernández and Jakob Marsee. Hernández’s three-run shot gave Miami five runs before the A’s had even recorded an out, and Marsee added a two-out solo dinger.

“Tough first inning,” Kotsay said. “We know this team can hit, and when you leave balls middle across [the plate], you’re going to pay the price.”

The A’s cut a 7-0 deficit to 7-5 by the fourth inning on a two-run homer by Nick Kurtz and a bases-clearing double from Jeff McNeil, but the comeback effort ended there. Before Colby Thomas struck out to strand the bases loaded in the fourth, ending the club’s most promising threat, Heim -- pinch-hitting for Langeliers -- made the inning’s second out, popping up to the shortstop with two men on.

Although Langeliers was 0-for-2 with a pair of strikeouts before his early exit, it might have been a different story had he remained in the game. Batting .264 with 20 home runs, 44 RBIs and an .822 OPS, Langeliers has been one of the A’s best bats all season. He showed off his defense on Friday not long before leaving the game, pouncing on a check-swing chopper from Otto Lopez down the third-base line and firing to first for an out in the top of the fourth.

Langeliers is likely to make the American League All-Star team when rosters are announced on Saturday. As of the final Phase 2 voting update, he led Blue Jays backstop Alejandro Kirk, 65% to 35%, for an automatic starting spot in the Midsummer Classic. With Langeliers seeking his first career All-Star appearance, an injury could be devastating.

The A’s -- who will be without Rooker, one of their other leaders, for the rest of the year -- certainly feel the impact.

“Shea is one of our best leaders on the team,” Perkins said. “Just from that standpoint alone, seeing him have to get pulled from a game because of injury is never a fun thing -- especially as the pitcher and the guy you’re working with.”

Langeliers did his best to stay in the game after a Perkins sweeper backed up on him, catching him on the thumb of his glove hand and caroming to the backstop to score the second Marlins run with nobody out in the first.

He stayed behind the plate for the rest of the lengthy half-inning as well as the next three defensive frames before Heim took his place in the lineup. The A’s will hope for better news when Langeliers is reevaluated Saturday, but they were impressed he was able to hang in there as long as he did Friday night.

“For him to stay in and keep competing just says a lot about his character and who he is,” Perkins said.