Chase DeLauter has finally become hitter Guardians fans dreamed he could be 

At this time last year, Chase DeLauter seemed like a bit of an unknown for the Guardians. Although he was ranked as one of the team’s top prospects, he hadn’t played in a minor league game since July 11 due to a right hamate injury. 

It seemed like it was another lost season that was going to end with him playing in the Fall League ahead of his eventual debut in 2026. But then he made his debut last postseason, and nothing’s been the same since. 

On Sunday, DeLauter provided us with another example of just how good of a hitter he is when he racked up four hits in the Guardians’ 11-1 drubbing of the Royals. 

While a lot of the attention from that game was focused on José Ramírez hitting his first home run since June 6, DeLauter’s productive outing was just as encouraging when it comes to the Guardians’ run toward the postseason. 

Chase DeLauter has become a huge part of the Guardians' lineup

DeLauter now has a .293/.365/.454 slashline with 13 home runs and 60 RBI. While his power hasn’t shown up in the same way it did in the first week of the season, he’s turned into something even better: a balanced hitter. 

Sunday’s game was a great example of that. 

In his first at-bat, DeLauter set the tone with a double in the right field on a fastball that was up in the zone. It was the kind of short, violent swing that DeLauter is known for. 

Two innings later he turned around a Seth Lugo sinker with a 104.7 mile per hour single back up the middle, which was followed an inning later by another double in the right field gap. He added another single in the sixth inning before being pulled once the game got out of reach. 

Perhaps the most important thing from DeLauter’s showing is that he also scored three runs, so he wasn’t carrying the offense himself. 

DeLauter finished August with a .262 batting average (39-for-80), which was the third-best mark in the American League behind Tampa Bay’s Chandler Simpson and Kansas City’s Jac Caglianone. 

He also made four putouts, one of which was a nice running catch on a ball Tyler Tolbert nearly hit to the wall in the second inning. 

While DeLauter has only been worth 0 Outs Above Average this year, but he’s largely held his own while also staying healthy outside of his one mishap with the wall in June. 

But that defense is always going to be secondary to what he does in the batter’s box, and what he’s done in the batter’s box has given him an outside shot to win a Silver Slugger. 

DeLauter may not be the most marquee rookie in baseball, but he’s been everything the Guardians expected him to be. 

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