WEST SACRAMENTO -- Shea Langeliers made sure his wife Raegan awoke to a few treats on her 28th birthday, including a cake and some chocolate-covered strawberries.
But that wasn’t all: The Athletics catcher had some more presents for Raegan at Sutter Health Park during Saturday’s 14-6 loss to the Guardians. And despite expecting the couple’s first child -- the baby boy was born on Sunday morning -- Raegan wasn’t going to miss a thing.
“Obviously, she’s got to come to the field on her birthday,” Langeliers said with a smile.
It’s a good thing she did: Langeliers marked the occasion with two home runs -- his ninth and 10th of the season -- as he continued his torrid 2026.
“Just being able to have a good day for her on her birthday was cool,” the A’s backstop said.
How about a good YEAR? Langeliers, in fact, has been hitting like this for quite a while. Since Raegan’s previous birthday on May 2, 2025, he’s batting .299 with 35 home runs and a .921 OPS -- the seventh-highest OPS among all hitters with at least 400 plate appearances in that span. In 2026, Langeliers’ 1.017 OPS ranks fourth among qualifying players.
“Shea’s had a phenomenal start to the year,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “He’s one of the leaders on the team.”
Even in a lineup featuring sluggers such as Nick Kurtz, Brent Rooker and Tyler Soderstrom, Langeliers has stood out -- despite playing a physically challenging position.
He started 32 of his club’s first 33 games and made 26 appearances at catcher. With Rooker locked into the designated hitter spot since returning from a right oblique strain last Sunday, there’s little respite for Langeliers right now -- either he’s behind the plate, or his power bat is out of the lineup.
That could have posed a problem for Kotsay and the A’s with Saturday’s day game on the heels of Friday night’s series opener, but Langeliers was more than willing to catch both contests.
“He definitely wanted to be in there,” Kotsay said. “For him to go out and have a game like that today shows a lot about his physicality and maturity, for sure.”
Langeliers will take some time off to be with his newborn son -- he won’t travel with the A’s to Philadelphia after Sunday’s series finale and will rejoin the team at some point during its upcoming road trip. The backstop was out of the lineup on Sunday, with Austin Wynns starting behind the plate and batting seventh.
Kotsay said the team has discussed adding a catcher from Triple-A Las Vegas, which would require a 40-man roster move. If Langeliers is placed on the paternity list, he can miss up to three games.
Langeliers said after Saturday’s game he’s in a state of “nervous excitement” as he enters fatherhood.
“It’s my first child -- I’ve never done this before,” Langeliers said. “Just keeping me on my toes.”
He has been returning the favor by keeping opposing pitchers on THEIR toes. Just two batters into Saturday’s game, Langeliers punished Guardians starter Slade Cecconi for a sweeper that stayed just a bit too high, socking a two-run dinger to left-center.
Langeliers victimized Cecconi again in the bottom of the fifth, turning on a middle-in fastball for a no-doubter that landed on the roof of the A’s clubhouse beyond the left-center-field wall. At a Statcast-projected 433 feet, the dinger was Langeliers’ second longest of the season -- his 467-foot tank against the Rangers on April 15 still ranks first for not just him but for all of MLB.
And in the seventh, facing lefty reliever Tim Herrin, Langeliers ripped a 110.5 mph single through the left side for his third hit of the day.
What’s behind the catcher’s surge at the plate? It’s not “dad strength” -- not yet, anyway! -- and it might not be all that exciting, either.
“It’s very routine-oriented -- just get in the cage and do my routine every day, kind of checking that box,” Langeliers said. “That in itself kind of creates confidence going into the game, just knowing that I checked all my boxes pregame, I prepared, I’m ready to go. Baseball’s such a game of fluctuations and adjustments, back and forth, how pitchers are attacking you. It’s just being aware of that and going out there and trusting yourself.”
Understandably, a life change as big as having a child could throw off a creature of habit like Langeliers. If so, though, that’s a secondary concern.
“I’m not worried about that,” Langeliers said. “Moreso just excited for my first child, being able to hold him and get a couple days with my wife and the baby boy.”
If those days are anything like Saturday, they should be pretty special.