Shea Langeliers -- Prospect Evaluation

The Atlanta Braves organization views catcher Shea Langeliers as their long-term answer at the position following his strong development since being drafted ninth overall in 2019. The 24-year-old Baylor product won the Hank Aaron Award in 2021 as the organization's minor league position player of the year. At Double-A Mississippi, Langeliers compiled a .258 batting average with an .836 OPS while recording 13 doubles, 22 home runs, and 52 RBIs, demonstrating continued offensive improvement. His elite defense remains his best asset, as he threw out 42% of basestealers, tied for the most in professional baseball. Langeliers credited his growth to improved pitch sequencing knowledge and pitcher relationship-building, stating the game has slowed down as he better understands pitching staffs and scouting reports. The Braves expect Langeliers to debut in MLB in 2022 after additional development in Triple-A, where the organization has veteran Travis d'Arnaud and recently signed Manny Piña handling current catching duties. The club believes Langeliers will be a foundational piece for future contending teams.

Shea Langeliers, the ninth overall pick in the 2019 draft out of Baylor, is the focus of the Atlanta Braves' prospect scouting report series. The catching prospect has distinguished himself as one of the best defensive catchers in baseball while gradually developing his offensive skill set.

Langeliers' professional path shows typical catcher progression. After his 2019 selection, he was assigned to Single-A Rome where he posted a .652 OPS with 2 home runs across 216 at-bats. Following the 2020 alternate training site season, the Braves assigned him to Double-A in 2021, where he emerged as one of the league's top power hitters despite pitcher-friendly conditions, belting 22 home runs in 329 at-bats with a .836 OPS (.258/.338/.498). He appeared in 5 games at Triple-A Gwinnett late in the season.

The Braves' approach of keeping Langeliers primarily at Double-A in 2021 is strategically sound, as catchers typically require extended development time at the plate while mastering the defensive and game-management responsibilities of the position. His inclusion on the postseason taxi squad underscores the organization's confidence in his trajectory.

Shea Langeliers, catcher for Baylor University, was selected ninth overall by the Atlanta Braves in the 2019 MLB Draft. MLB Pipeline ranked him as the No. 10 overall prospect. Langeliers and Oregon State's Adley Rutschman (No. 1 pick) split catching duties on the USA Collegiate National Team and represent the first time two catchers have been selected in the top 10 since 2008, when Buster Posey (5th), Kyle Skipworth (6th), and Jason Castro (10th) were drafted.

Langeliers is renowned for his defensive abilities behind the plate, earning the 2018 Rawlings/ABCA Gold Glove for the best defensive catcher in college baseball. His arm strength is exceptional, with 22 of 32 stolen base attempts thrown out (68.8%) in 2018 and 13 of 23 in 2019. He has demonstrated pop times of 1.7 seconds in workouts and 1.8 seconds in games, which exceed the MLB average of 2.01 seconds and approach the elite threshold of 1.9 seconds.

Langeliers is the first Baylor player selected in the first round since Aaron Miller in 2009 (36th overall). He was named a second-team All-American catcher in 2018, behind Georgia Tech's Joey Bart, who was selected second overall by the San Francisco Giants in the 2018 Draft.

Shea Langeliers is a catching prospect for the Atlanta Braves and the subject of a scouting report continuing the organization's top prospect series. Originally drafted ninth overall in 2019 from Baylor University, Langeliers was immediately assigned to Single-A Rome where he posted a .255 batting average with a .652 OPS, adding 2 home runs over 216 at-bats in his debut professional season. After spending 2020 at the alternate training site, the Braves promoted him to Double-A in 2021. According to the report, Langeliers has already established himself as one of the best defensive catchers in baseball while continuing to develop offensively. His defensive prowess earned him a spot on the organization's taxi squad as a potential emergency call-up during the 2021 postseason.

Shea Langeliers is a catcher prospect who was the 9th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves. Standing 6'0" and weighing 205 lbs, Langeliers projects as an elite defender with plus arm strength, throwing out nearly 70 percent of basestealers and demonstrating polished pitch-framing and blocking abilities. While ranked behind Adley Rutschman in his draft class, his defensive toolset alone profiles him as a solid backup option in modern baseball.

Offensively, Langeliers showed mixed results early in his professional career. He struggled in his 2018 sophomore season, posting a .252/.351/.496 slash line, but demonstrated resilience with a 13 percent walk rate. Last summer with USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team, he rebounded with a .346/.393/.500 line and was second on the team in hitting. Scouts attribute his 2018 season to an outlier rather than a trend, supported by his .322/.366/.494 performance through 20 games of conference play after recovering from a broken hamate bone.

Langeliers has an balanced swing and solid strike zone understanding, with solid-average raw power that manifests more easily on the pull side. He made his MLB debut on August 16, 2022. His prospect rankings have varied from #7 in 2020 to #2 in 2022 for the Braves organization, with Baseball America ranking him #54 overall in 2022. He was also ranked #1 prospect in the Southern League in 2021.