Resurgent Langeliers plates four for Rome

Don't let his batting average fool you, Shea Langeliers is heating up at the plate. 
The Braves' No. 5 prospect drove in a career-high four runs in his second straight three-hit performance Saturday, leading Class A Rome to an 8-6 victory over West Virginia at State Mutual Stadium. 

Langeliers picked up where he left off Friday. He plated Braves No. 27 prospect Justin Dean and 11th-ranked Braden Shewmake in the first inning after he deposited a 3-2 pitch from Ryne Inman (7-7) to center field for a double.
After grounding out in the third, MLB.com's No. 69 overall prospect sent an 0-1 offering from southpaw Benjamin Onyshko into right field for a base hit and his third RBI of the night. He came around to score on a two-run single by Jose Bermudez. 
"Hitting is contagious, and it's awesome when it happens," Langeliers said about Rome's up-tempo offense. "Everyone is ready to go. The dugout really gets into it. It's really weird how it works." 
Gameday box score
Langeliers plated Shewmake -- his fellow first-round pick in last month's Draft -- again in the sixth with a single to center on a 1-2 pitch from Onyshko. He struck out against right-hander Elias Espino in his final plate appearance.
With back-to-back three-hit nights, the right-handed hitter raised his batting average 39 points to .231. He's 6-for-9 with a homer and seven RBIs over the weekend.
"I feel good right now," the 2018 second team All-American said. "It's baseball. I try to keep things simple. When you keep things simple, you are going to get good results. Well, at least 30 percent of the time." 
Langeliers, the ninth overall pick, credited minor adjustments to his approach after seeing his batting average sink to a season-low .180 on July 12. In his last 10 games, however, the slugger is batting .286 with one roundtripper, 12 RBIs, and a .429 slugging percentage. 
"I didn't do anything major," he said. "I felt my timing was off a little bit. I was chasing some bad pitches out of the strike zone. Now, I'm just trying to stay true to myself."
The biggest transition from Baylor University to the professional level has not been at the plate, but rather behind the dish. 
"Honestly, the biggest learning curve, for me, is learning how to call my own game," he noted. "In college, the pitching coach or manager calls the game. I've been working with the coaching staff every day trying to get better.
"Calling a game yourself, you see what hitters are trying to do. You have a scouting report but they make in-game adjustments. That's when you have to adjust. But I think my progress is going really well." 
During his collegiate career as a backstop in the Big 12 Conference, Langeliers made only three errors, none during his junior campaign. He also threw out 56 percent of would-be basestealers in 2019. 

The last time the Braves selected a position player in the first round, they took Austin Riley in the 2015 Draft.
During the MLB Network's coverage of this year's Draft, analyst Joe Girardi called Langeliers, the 2018 American Baseball Coaches Association/ Rawlings Gold Glove winner, a "defensive wizard" and an "outstanding thrower with a plus plus arm." He added the 21-year-old's offense will continue to get better and thinks he will hit for plus power because he profiles as a line-drive hitter. 
Shewmake was 2-for-4 with three runs scored, while Dean stole a base and crossed the plate twice.