Jonah

Heim

Heim opened the scoring with a run-scoring double off of Tyler Holton in the home half of the first inning. That would be their only run in the ballgame. The 31-year-old backstop is now slashing .236/.289/.448 with 11 long balls and 35 RBI in 232 plate appearances on the season.

This was supposed to be a really easy year for Heim. He was just going to back up Drake Baldwin in Atlanta while Sean Murphy was hurt and then he was going to fill in behind Shea Langeliers, who figured to play nearly every day, after being traded to the A’s. Now, though, he finds himself starting regularly for a team playing half of its games in a minor league ballpark with the temperature still in excess of 90 degrees even in night games. Maybe another trade is on the way, but since the A’s wouldn’t get much in return, it seems likely that they’ll just keep forcing him to suffer the rest of the way.

The A’s appear to be easing Soderstrom back into action in his return from the injured list, so he’ll take a seat against Tigers’ southpaw Framber Valdez on Thursday evening in Motown. Nick Kurtz will function as the club’s designated hitter on Thursday while Jonah Heim draws a start at first base and will bat cleanup for the A’s.

A fascinating baseball game. The A’s trailed 8-0 at the end of seven with Eury Pérez throwing a perfect game, but after Pérez was pulled, the A’s got back in the game and then some; thanks in large part to Heim. His grand slam made it an 8-5 game in the eighth, and he hit a two-run single off a wholly ineffective Pete Fairbanks to draw the A’s to within a run. Heim has been a solid bench bat for the Athletics in 2026 with nine homers and a .241/.300/.490 slash.

Langeliers was hurt on a passed ball in the first and left in the fourth. X-rays were negative, so maybe he’ll be able to DH on Saturday. Jonah Heim figures to do the catching.

Heim has started seven straight games — three at catcher and four at DH — and is up to .253/.308/.526 in 104 plate appearances since being acquired by the A’s. With Brent Rooker done for the year, Heim could potentially continue to play regularly if he remains productive. It seems more likely that he’ll fall back into a reserve role in time, but he’s certainly an option at as a second backstop in two-catcher leagues for the short term.

Butler had started each of the team’s previous four games, but he went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in a tough loss against the Pirates on Wednesday. Carlos Cortes will cover right field in his place while Jonah Heim will get a rare start as the designated hitter and bat sixth for the A’s on Thursday evening.

Langeliers launches two homers on his wife’s birthday on Saturday before she gave birth to their first child on Sunday morning. The 28-year-old slugging backstop is going to take some time away from the club to be with his family for the next couple days while Austin Wynns and newly acquired Jonah Heim handle the catching duties.

The Athletics are undoubtedly very familiar with Heim’s work since he began his career with the club before becoming the starting backstop for the division-rival Rangers. The 30-year-old heads out to West Sacramento after being removed from Atlanta’s 40-man roster earlier on Monday. He’ll provide the Athletics with some additional depth behind Austin Wynns while Shea Langeliers is away on paternity leave for a couple days this week.

There’s no longer a role for Heim with Atlanta now that Sean Murphy is back from the injured list. The 30-year-old backstop departs after going 2-for-5 with a homer and five RBI during Sunday’s slugfest at Coors Field. He went 9-for-39) with one homer and eight RBI in 12 games with the club.