Swing From Shea Langeliers

Shea Langeliers (ATH): 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI.

Last night, Shea Langeliers became the third player since 2021 to do the “Hokey Pokey” and hit both an inside-the-park and an over-the-fence home run in the same game. Langeliers’ homers off of Chicago Cubs ace Shota Imanaga helped get the Athletics out to an early lead, but the Athletics‘ bullpen blew the save opportunity in the bottom of the ninth.

Langeliers has emerged as one of baseball’s premier hitters following last year’s 31-home run campaign, and he’s taken his game to even greater heights so far in 2026. Now up to 16 home runs on the season, the 28-year-old is well on his way to repeating the feat.

With numbers like this, I certainly want a swing from Shea Langeliers.

 

Let’s see how the other hitters did Thursday:

Jackson Chourio (MIL): 3-4, 2 HR, 4 R, 4 RBI, BB.

Jackson Chourio doubled his home run total yesterday, hitting his third and fourth homers of the year. Chourio had a delayed start to 2026, making his season debut on May 4th after he recovered from a fractured hand. The 22-year-old Milwaukee Brewers superstar has made up for lost time quickly. Chourio absolutely demolished his second home run of the night with a 105.5 mph, 423-foot bomb in the seventh inning, but, unfortunately, the San Francisco Giants were all over Coleman Crow in a 12-9 victory over the Brewers.

 

Kody Clemens (MIN): 2-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.

Velocity runs in the Clemens family. Kody Clemens flexed his power yesterday with barrels in back-to-back plate appearances as he notched 101.4 and 101.7 mph home runs in an 8-6 loss to the Kansas City Royals. Weird how all three players to hit a pair of homers took the loss in a close game. Last night’s performance put Clemens up to eight home runs on the season, and while he doesn’t do much else at the plate, he’ll continue to play every day in the heart of the Minnesota Twins‘ lineup. Availability is the best ability, as the old saying goes.

 

Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC): 1-3, HR, R, RBI, SB.

Pete Crow-Armstrong fans probably don’t want to talk about the inside-the-park home run he coughed up to Langeliers, and thankfully, he gave us a “Combo Meal” to distract us from his outfield blooper. His home run was a 110.1 mph no-doubter that put the Chicago Cubs on the board in what would be a comeback victory. While he had a slow start to the year, PCA has flashed some raw power that put concerns of repeating another 30+ home run, 30+ stolen base season to bed.

The young outfielder has already brought his average exit velocity up from 89.5 mph last season to 91.9 mph. His 114.6 mph bomb last week was the hardest hit ball of his career, and the budding superstar is proving he still has more to offer.

 

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (TOR): 3-5, 2B, 2 R.

As our (self-proclaimed) resident Blue Jays expert, it’s time to talk about Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Last night’s performance brought him up to a .300/.391/.391 triple slash, which I think perfectly illustrates the reason why he’s been so heavily criticized this season. Guerrero Jr. has still been an on-base machine, but he hasn’t been hitting the ball as hard as usual, resulting in a massive drop in extra-base hits. He came into yesterday’s game with a 90.6 mph average exit velocity, a 44.6% hard hit rate, and a 6.7% barrel rate. All of which would be his lowest marks since his rookie season.

Vladdy simply needs to hit the ball harder, and the home runs will follow. It’s Occam’s Razor. Or in this case, Occam’s Hoser.

Henry Bolte (ATH): 2-4, 2B, R, RBI.

Fans of nominative determinism, meet Sacramento Athletics outfielder Henry Bolte. The 22-year-old has lived up to his surname with an insane 30.2 ft/s sprint speed that is fourth in all of baseball since his 2026 debut. Bolte has an exciting hit tool, which could allow him to lead the league in stolen bases as soon as this season. Bolte’s pair of hits brought him up to a .300/.377/.350 triple slash in the majors. He’s even flashed a 91.5 mph average exit velocity and 53.5% hard hit rate that suggests he could bring up that slugging percentage if he can figure out how to elevate the ball.

Bolte has yet to hit a barrel and has posted a 58.1% groundball rate so far, but even if he continues to keep the ball on the ground, he has the skills to become a very popular player quickly (pun intended).

 

Justin Crawford (PHI): 1-3, 2B, 2 R, BB, SB.

Another soon-to-be popular speedster, Justin Crawford, showcased his own stolen base ability yesterday as he notched his eighth stolen base of the year. Crawford’s 29.6 ft/s sprint speed isn’t far behind Bolte, as he’s tied for 14th in the category. However, he has struggled to generate opportunities at the same rate he did in the minors, hitting .232/.295/.339, so far in his rookie season. Crawford’s .283 BABIP suggests he’s faced some bad luck in his debut, and his 18.9% Whiff rate and 122 Whiff Avoid value are both quite advanced for a player his age. There could be some positive regression on the horizon.

 

Ronald Acuña Jr. (ATL): 1-4, R, SB.

Bonus: Since being named my featured player last week, Acuña has gone 8-for-24 with five homers, six steals, and nine RBI over seven games.

Justin, are you seriously going to take a victory lap on Ronald Acuña Jr. right now? Look, he went from an 89.5 mph average exit velocity and a 101 wRC+ over the first two months of the season to a 94.1 mph average exit velocity and a 326 wRC+ over the last week. That’s pretty wild timing.

So, if you have a player who has been struggling and needs my good luck, tag me in our PL+ Discord server.

Sigh.