WEST SACRAMENTO – If there was one player the Athletics figured would be exempt from this injury plague they have faced all year, it’s Shea Langeliers, their tough-as-nails catcher who, prior to last season, had never spent time on the injured list.
Turns out, even Langeliers is not immune from this brutal injury bug. After visiting Dr. Michael Banffy in Los Angeles before the A’s 4-2 series-opening loss to the Red Sox on Monday at Sutter Health Park, it was recommended that he undergo surgery to repair a medial meniscus tear in his right knee.
That surgery will take place on Tuesday morning, and will likely keep Langeliers out for the remainder of the 2026 season.
This is yet another devastating loss in a year full of tough blows for the A’s, who have a season-high 11 players on the injured list, including four lost for rest of the season: Langeliers, Brent Rooker, Gunnar Hoglund and Mark Leiter Jr., who will also undergo surgery for his right hip impingement on Tuesday morning in Los Angeles.
Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, who underwent surgery on July 20 for a testicle rupture, is also unlikely to play again this season.
Seldom have the A’s had a “full squad” at their disposal; Jacob Wilson, Nick Kurtz, Tyler Soderstrom, Zack Gelof, Luis Severino and Rooker have combined to miss 247 games due to injury this season.
“It’s just a year that seems to all stack up that way this year,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “I’ve been a player that has dealt with injuries for a long time in my career that took away from some of my abilities, which, you never want that to happen. So, from that standpoint, these guys who are having surgeries that are ending their season, they’re going to get a full offseason to go through a rehab process and be ready to go next season.”
There is no timetable for Langeliers’ return at this point, though recoveries from surgery for a meniscus tear generally range from six to eight weeks.
In Langeliers, the A’s lose more than just an All-Star backstop who has posted a .263/.332/.497 slash with 23 homers over 93 games. They lose another important figure inside the clubhouse whose leadership role only increased in importance following the loss of Rooker back in June.
“Another tough break, really,” Kotsay said. “Shea’s been the catalyst of the club this year. He was the one guy that you felt was going to be able to stay in that lineup the rest of the season and continue to help us win games. Now, it’s the next-man-up mentality.”
With Langeliers out, Jonah Heim is expected to shoulder the catcher workload going forward, with Brian Serven -- recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on Sunday -- contributing in a backup role. Of course, there is no replicating the lineup presence of Langeliers, whose 83 homers over the past three years are second among all Major League catchers behind only Seattle’s Cal Raleigh.
“This is another one of our leaders and another middle-of-the-order bat that is done for the season,” Kotsay said. “This is a season that continues to challenge us in different ways. We’ve been challenged before, especially from a depth perspective in the position player group. We have a lot of young guys here now, and they’re getting that opportunity to go out and play.”
Heim did all he could to keep the A’s in Monday’s game, first launching a 419-foot solo shot to center off Boston starter Payton Tolle in the sixth to bring them within two runs, then nabbing Andrew Monasterio at third base for the second out of the seventh with a strong throw.
“Me and [Langeliers] have grown close over the last couple of months since I’ve come over here,” Heim said. “He’s a leader of this team, so he’s going to be deeply missed. … It’s going to be nice to try to help these [pitchers] get through it and put up some zeros.”
The injury to Langeliers is the latest blow in what has been an extremely difficult stretch for the A’s. As recently as June 19, they were 38-38 and just a half-game behind the Mariners for first place in the AL West, but they’ve gone 6-24 over their past 30 games following Monday’s loss, holding the worst record in the Majors over that stretch.
Langeliers’ name had been circulating in trade rumors as of late. Obviously, the surgery likely eliminates any chance of the 28-year-old catcher – who is controllable through 2028 – being dealt before the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline.