When the Atlanta Braves acquired Matt Olson from the Oakland A’s, most eyes were on Cristian Pache in the return package, given that he’d been a former top prospect and didn’t necessarily have a chance to play with a team that was chasing a World Series title when he did see the field. The talent was already there, and with the A’s he’d get a chance to play.

Yet, it has been two of the other pieces in that deal that have taken with the A’s. Pache is no longer with the organization, but Shea Langeliers and Joey Estes appear to be building blocks moving forward.

Last season was just Langeliers’ second full year behind the dish for the A’s, and he really made some strides with the club on both sides of the ball. Funnily enough, when A’s on SI asked the clubhouse before the season began which player would break out for the team that season, it was Langeliers who was the most common answer.

The A’s backstop improved his walk rate (6.9% to 7.7%) and cut down his strikeout rate (29.2% to 27.2%), while also hitting the second-most home runs by a catcher, second only to Seattle’s Cal Raleigh. His wRC+ went from 86 in 2023 to 109 in 2024. The improvement was certainly there for Shea.

The A’s catcher recently told Martín Gallegos of MLB.com that he just stopped worrying about his swing so much. “Sometimes I get so in my head about breaking down video and what my swing looks like. I blame failures on my actual swing rather than what pitches I’m swinging at or my approach or wondering if I’m locked in in certain situations.”

Last season Langeliers began playing chess as a way to take his mind off of baseball, and given the progress he showed at the plate, it would appear that it worked, at least to some degree.

But what could be in store for Langeliers in the second half of 2025? In the second half of last season, he appeared in 65 of the team’s 76 games and went from hitting .213 in the first half to .241 after the break. In terms of wRC+, he went from a 96 (100 is league average) all the way up to a 128. If he were able to produce at that level for a full campaign, he’d be a top-30 bat in baseball.

Over the course of the whole season, Langeliers’ 109 wRC+ ranked No. 13 among catchers with at least 100 plate appearances. Among qualified catchers, he ranked seventh out of nine.

Yet, if he is able to replicate that second-half performance, he could join the upper echelon of offensive catchers across baseball. He was already hitting the ball hard, has one of the fastest bats on the club, and his .224 batting average on the year was a little deflated by bad luck. His expected batting average (xBA) last season was .241, a difference of 17 points.

If he can just meet his expected stats he’ll see a huge increase in production. If he gets even a little lucky with some balls falling in, then he would certainly be included among the top guys at his position.

The best offensive catcher across all of MLB was William Contreras (funnily enough, included in the A’s and Braves trade for Sean Murphy, but sent to Milwaukee) with a 131 wRC+. The next-best were Raleigh and Houston’s Yainer Diaz at 117.

Langeliers’ journey to become one of the best offensive catchers in the game will mirror the A’s own journey to becoming a contending team once again in 2025. Last season the Athletics saw a 19-win increase year-over-year, while Langeliers’ wRC+ went up 26 points in the same stretch. Getting to that next level is a bit harder, however.

Both the A’s and Langeliers have the tools to make that jump in 2025.