From the moment I introduced myself to Shea Langeliers it was clear he was just an easy guy to talk to. Friendly, personable, and laid back, Langeliers\u2019 manner belies the insane job description of a major league catcher. That became one focus for our interview Saturday, March 14th, starting with the newest challenge. Pun intended.<\/p>\n
Nico: So as I was thinking of questions, I was just realizing how many different aspects of catching there are that you can ask somebody about. And I want to get into that, what that\u2019s like. But starting with ABS, which is kind of the newest thing that you have to manage, I know during spring training you\u2019re doing a lot of experimenting. But when you\u2019re thinking ahead to the regular season, when you have to make the best decisions, what is the thinking right now as far as, when and who and how you\u2019re going to navigate challenges?<\/p>\n
Shea: Yeah, I think to start with, I think just catchers as a whole probably have the best feel for the strike zone. Obviously with the ABS, there\u2019s little changes here and there. So I mean, that\u2019s part of (what) spring training\u2019s for, kind of like what you\u2019re saying, get a feel for that, feel it out.<\/p>\n
As far as the situations, it\u2019s kinda, I think the borderline ones are gonna be tough, especially early in the game. It\u2019s kind of like,Nico: if there\u2019s like a blatantly obvious one that you know for sure is a strike, obviously we\u2019re going to challenge those. But probably do our best to save at least one challenge late in game, big situation, leverage situation where, you know, if we\u2019re on offense, there\u2019s runners on base. Obviously, if we\u2019re on defense, there\u2019s runners on base. Just for those big situations that can change a game, you definitely want a challenge.<\/p>\n
Nico: So to the first thing you said, are you thinking you want the catchers to sort of be in charge of the challenges more than the pitchers?<\/p>\n
Shea: Yes. Obviously, and rightfully so, the pitchers, as a mentality, they think everything\u2019s a strike. And we want them to think that way. We want them to be aggressive on the mound. So it\u2019s kind of just that buffer is the catcher, because we can let them know, hey, no, it\u2019s just off, it\u2019s just down, it\u2019s just up, that kind of thing. We\u2019ve got a better feel for that because they\u2019re out there, you know, competing and doing their best and we want them to stay aggressive.<\/p>\n
Nico: Now, maybe you picked the wrong time in your career to improve something, but you improved your framing a lot in the last year. How valuable do you think that is now?<\/p>\n
Shea: I think there\u2019s still a lot of value to it. It\u2019s going to be interesting to see how it plays out, especially the first month or two in season, how these challenges are used kind of around the league. Because if you run out of challenges early in the game, it\u2019s kind of, we\u2019re back to last year how it was pretty much. It\u2019s just kind of straight up.<\/p>\n
So we\u2019ll kind of see that, kind of knowing off the top of my head some of the best framers around the league like Patrick Bailey, (Alejandro) Kirk, (Cal) Raleigh. I think opposing teams going into that game are gonna know that these guys are the best framers in the league. So they might be more apt to challenge on those borderline ones cuz they know they get calls cuz they make everything look good. It\u2019s gonna be interesting to see how that plays out.<\/p>\n
Nico: Well, I wonder if those guys are going to intentionally frame pitches to look like balls that are strikes to get challenges. I mean, there\u2019s a lot of psychology.<\/p>\n
Shea: Yeah, there\u2019s a lot of different ways you can look at it. It\u2019s going to be interesting.<\/p>\n
Nico: So, to my first point, ABS is just one of so many things that you\u2019re having to juggle as a catcher, not even talking about hitting. So if you could give our readers an idea of just like what your work day is like as you\u2019re preparing \u2014 in camp, of course, you\u2019ve got a million pitchers, but even during the regular season, the preparation, you know,the part that we don\u2019t see.<\/p>\n
Shea: Yeah. I mean, I could talk about it for a long time.<\/p>\n
Shea: Try to put it simply. So obviously each individual pitcher has their own strength and you want, for the most part, to pitch off of their strength. And on any given night, obviously, it\u2019s a big league lineup. Every team you play, every team\u2019s got the capability of scoring a bunch of runs at any point, right? So like, night in, night out, you\u2019re scouting the best players in the world. You\u2019re trying to figure out, \u201cOK, what\u2019s the hitter\u2019s strength and weakness? What\u2019s my pitcher\u2019s strength and weakness? And to overlay that, what\u2019s the best plan of attack?\u201d<\/p>\n
How are we going to go about this? And there\u2019s certain times where it\u2019s like, off the top of my head, Aaron Judge, it\u2019s like, \u201cWe don\u2019t want Aaron Judge to beat us if we\u2019re playing the Yankees.\u201d If somebody else beats us, it\u2019s kind of like \u2014 obviously you don\u2019t want to lose, but you don\u2019t want to let the best player in the game beat us on any given night. So it\u2019s an overlay of everything. What is my pitcher\u2019s strength? What does he have that day? Who\u2019s in the box? What\u2019s their strength? I mean, I could go on and on.<\/p>\n
Nico: Well, so when we see a pitch called during a game in real time, how much of that is coming from pregame preparation and conversation, and how much is coming from reading the hitter, reading the situation in real time?<\/p>\n
Shea: Yeah. So you\u2019ve got plan A, B, C, right? You\u2019ve got your plan pregame. We\u2019ve got our whole pitching meeting before the game, how we want to attack guys. And I would say the plan A, when plan A works is when the starter goes seven innings and gives up zero one runs and punches out ten. That\u2019s when plan A works.<\/p>\n
Plan B is when something (goes sideways), the pitcher doesn\u2019t have something that day, the offense is doing something different than we thought they were gonna do, you kind of reroute.<\/p>\n
And then plan C is kind of just like, all right, how do we figure this out and stay in the game? So it\u2019s any given night. I would say obviously I could look at a box score of how the starting pitchers night went, and that guy, that was plan A, that was plan B, that was plan C. Being a good catcher in the game is how quick can you notice that reroute and get to plan B, plan C, because you get hurt when you try to stick to the plan longer than you should. Yep.<\/p>\n
Nico: Now, how old were you when you first knew or decided you wanted to be a catcher?<\/p>\n
Shea: I started catching full time my sophomore year in high school. So yeah, 16, 17, somewhere around there.<\/p>\n
Nico: Did you have any idea all that it entailed mentally and physically?<\/p>\n
Shea: Well at the time, my dad told me that being a catcher that can hit is the fastest way to the big leagues. Obviously I don\u2019t think he knew the full scale of everything that catchers have to do day in and day out, but obviously everything worked out.<\/p>\n
Nico: You know, your scouting report when you were a minor leaguer was a little bit more leaning to \u201cdefense first, bat second\u201d. And in the majors, if anything, it\u2019s been flipped. And I\u2019m just curious how you explain or see that.<\/p>\n
Shea: Yeah, I would agree with that. I still, obviously, my mentality has always been and always will be catching first. It\u2019s the most important thing. Kind of control the pitching staff, control the game, get us into the rhythm of the game. Anything offensively is kind of a plus in my mind. Obviously, I want to do to the best of my physical abilities what I can do offensively. But yeah, it is kind of funny how coming through college, I mean, I always viewed myself as a defensive first catcher.<\/p>\n
But it is kind of funny how stuff like that flips and it could flip again, we don\u2019t know. So it\u2019s just, yeah, I mean, simply put, you just try to be the best player that you can. And then when you bring everything you got to the table every night, it\u2019s interesting to see how it works out.<\/p>\n
Nico: Now, every time we see a foul tip, we have a really good sense of how physically wearing catching is. I\u2019m interested in the mental, psychological piece, like how draining it is to have to do all the pieces that you have to do as a catcher.<\/p>\n
Shea: Yeah, I mean, it can definitely be overwhelming. I think that was probably the biggest learning curve for me when I first got to the big leagues. It\u2019s just all the information that you have to keep track of being the catcher. And then you have to hit on top of that. So figuring out a way to balance that and the information that you take.<\/p>\n
Because everybody digests information differently. There\u2019s certain information that works for me and I understand. Other catchers it\u2019s probably different. The way that they, it\u2019s like a little tidbit on a hitter. It\u2019s like, okay, I mentally know how to pitch that guy. And some people probably see it differently. So it\u2019s just figuring out what works for me, how I digest information to keep it simple and keep my mind free and able to compete.<\/p>\n
Nico: So how would you describe your personality? Like, what you bring, not just to the game, but to life, as Shea, not Kirk, not Raleigh?<\/p>\n
Shea: I\u2019m not a rah, rah guy. I\u2019m not going to go out there and yell at people. More of like a laid back, probably like calm strength. And just kind of like, I know for me personally, I\u2019m going to bring everything I got every night. I\u2019ve got 100 % confidence that these guys are going to do it too. So it\u2019s kind of like a silent leadership type deal. Yeah.<\/p>\n
Nico: What has been your one moment so far that stands out as, like, if I retire today, I\u2019ll always have this moment?<\/p>\n
Shea: I mean, right now, I guess it\u2019s probably the Grand Slam off Skubal last year. Just obviously, best pitcher in baseball, come up with the bases loaded and it\u2019s kind of just you\u2019re so in the moment that everything obviously everything worked out in that moment is really special and to be able to do something off a guy you know that\u2019s at the top of his game at the top of the game is pretty special.<\/p>\n
Hopefully Langeliers\u2019 best and most memorable moments are actually yet to come. Next up on Monday, the Denzelope: Denzel Clarke.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From the moment I introduced myself to Shea Langeliers it was clear he was just an easy guy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[240697,240698,240699,240700,257,363,99],"class_list":["post-536858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-athletics-analysis","tag-athletics-discussion","tag-athletics-news","tag-athletics-spring-training","tag-general","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}