Shea Langeliers' Historic Start Carrying the A's Offense

The backstop has five hits in eight at-bats, which is good for a .625 average, and an unbelievable 2.417 OPS. This off-season, the 28-year-old sparked extension rumors, which would add him to the list of already extended young bats.

Jacob Wilson, Brent Rooker, Tyler Soderstrom, and Lawrence Butler are among the names the team has already has locked up. This strong start could potentially earn him more money than any of the previous four deals.

After his impressive performance on Saturday, Langeliers' name will be in the history books for the A's franchise. His three homers in two games is the most by any player in franchise history, tied by only the Hall of Famer Al Simmons in 1930. The A's won the World Series that season, too.

Although Langeliers has been arguably the hottest hitter in baseball through two games, the rest of the A's offense has been quite slow to get going. The A's have struck out 35 times in two games, which is obviously a franchise record.

The formula of hitting long balls and striking out a ton is a very risky strategy, especially for a ball club that doesn't have a top-tier pitching staff. They've also been facing some strikeout artists in the early going, so the hope is that the trend doesn't last. The A's have also lost both games so far on walk-off singles from Blue Jays batters.

It also doesn't help the A's offense when your superstar hitters in Nick Kurtz, Brent Rooker, Jacob Wilson, and Lawrence Butler have a combined one hit in two games. The offense is relying heavily on Langeliers and Tyler Soderstrom to be productive, and have received good starts from both Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs.

Baseball seasons are very long, and there are still 160 games for the A's to prove themselves as a playoff contender. Some minor bullpen changes can be made, but the A's offense was ranked in the top 5 among all MLB teams before the season began, and they will need to start producing like it in the coming weeks in order to collect some wins.

The A's upcoming schedule isn't doing the club any favors, however. After the A's wrap up their series in Toronto, they will head to Atlanta to take on a tough Braves team. They'll follow that up with a home series against Houston, and then head back East to face the Yankees and Mets in New York. If the A's offense is still cold through those series, it will be an uphill battle to stay competitive in the AL West.