Langeliers exits game in fourth inning with left thumb injury

WEST SACRAMENTO -- The hits keep coming for the Athletics.

Just two days after announcing designated hitter Brent Rooker will undergo knee surgery and miss the rest of the season, the A’s lost catcher Shea Langeliers to a left thumb injury.

Jonah Heim pinch-hit for Langeliers in the fourth inning of Friday’s game against the Marlins at Sutter Health Park. The A’s catcher had just made an impressive play in the top of the fourth, snagging an Otto Lopez grounder near the plate and firing hard to first to get the out. Langeliers had gone 0-for-2 with a pair of swinging strikeouts before being removed.

Batting .264 with 20 home runs, 44 RBIs and an .822 OPS, Langeliers is likely to make the American League All-Star team when rosters are announced on Saturday. He led Blue Jays backstop Alejandro Kirk in Phase 2 of All-Star voting, 65% to 35%, with the winner earning an automatic starting spot in the Midsummer Classic.

After getting bad news on Rooker and placing shortstop Jacob Wilson (right thumb inflammation) and outfielder Tyler Soderstrom (left hip soreness) on the injured list on Monday, the A’s can hardly afford another injury to a position player. Second baseman Zack Gelof (right hand contusion) and center fielder Denzel Clarke (left hamstring strain) are also on the IL.