Langeliers (meniscus) now expected to play for A's again in '26

WEST SACRAMENTO -- Shea Langeliers will indeed play again this season for the Athletics.

After Langeliers successfully ran the bases before Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jays at Sutter Health Park, manager Mark Kotsay revealed that the All-Star catcher will begin a rehab assignment on Thursday with Triple-A Las Vegas.

Assuming there are no setbacks, Langeliers could return to the A’s as early as their upcoming six-game road trip, which begins next Tuesday in Tampa Bay and continues through Cleveland.

“Right now, there’s no exact timetable,” Kotsay said. “But I would hope for him to feel good, recover well and look at maybe this next road trip to get him on it and getting him in the lineup as the DH.”

The initial read on Langeliers at the time he underwent surgery for a meniscus tear in his right knee back on July 28 was that he would likely miss the remainder of the season.

Falling out of playoff contention not long after the All-Star break, the A’s would have been perfectly fine with Langeliers, who started the All-Star Game for the American League and is slashing .263/.332/.497 with 23 homers over 93 games, resting up in preparation for 2027. But the 28-year-old backstop was determined to make it back before the end of the season and avoid heading into the offseason on the injured list, which the A’s fully supported.

“It’s a great start for him going into the offseason knowing that the knee is good and solid,” Kotsay said. “He’s ready to go. … Just to have the ability to go get at-bats and finish the season says a lot about Shea’s character, his work ethic and the healing process for him. There’s a lot of excitement around that for us.”

The A’s will still be cautious with Langeliers. He will not play any games as a catcher the rest of this season, with his playing time solely as the designated hitter or coming off the bench as a pinch-hitter.

“We want to make sure that we don't put stress on the knee so that he comes back here and can physically handle a workload,” Kotsay said. “It’ll be a minimal workload. I’m not going to tell you that Shea’s going to be the DH for every game when he comes back. We’ll monitor that workload and make sure we don’t overdo anything with him.”