Athletics' 28-year-old catcher looks like an MVP-type hitter after 1.400 OPS start

The Athletics have a ton of young players all across their lineup signed to long-term deals, and looking like great pieces of a roster for years to come.

But Nick Kurtz remains unsigned to a long-term deal, though the Athletics have been trying to get something done. But, they should also be looking to get a different player's extension worked out, and it's their 28-year-old catcher, Shea Langeliers.

The A's catcher, as MLB.com's Martin Gallegos noted, is off to an MVP-type start to the season. Langeliers has a 1.400 OPS, and if he continues hitting this well, he will wind up in the MVP discussions by season's end.

Shea Langeliers looks like an MVP hitter

"Cal Raleigh established himself as the top hitting catcher in baseball last year," Gallegos writes, "but Langeliers is making an early case to wrestle that title away from him with a scoring hot start."

The A's catcher has five home runs to begin the year in six games. That's tied for the most homers by a primary catcher in his team's first six games in MLB history.

While Cal Raleigh set the single-season home run record for catchers with 60 last year, if Langeliers can keep this up, he'd have a very good chance to beat that new record.

More: Jacob DeGrom is only 149 strikeouts from 2,000 for his career

But it's been just one week, and crowning Langeliers as better than Raleigh is a bit premature. However, Langeliers has that sky-high potential.

His 1.400 OPS to begin the season is a fantastic mark, and with a .375 batting averagem five home runs, and eight RBIs in 24 at-bats across six games,  Langeliers is easily one of the MVP front-runners through the first week of the season.

The 28-year-old Athletics catcher needs to be locked up long-term the first chance they get, as an MVP-type season from Langeliers would only make his looming contract extension/free agency that much more ridiculous.

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