Guardians making historic decision after revealing Wild Card roster for Tigers series

The Chase DeLauter era is officially here — just in a way none of us expected. 

Earlier today the Guardians officially announced their roster for the Wild Card Series which included DeLauter among the 26-players selected. 

While DeLauter wasn’t in the Guardians’ lineup for Game 1, it’s only a matter of time until the 23-year-old makes his debut. And when he does, he’ll be making some history. 

Chase DeLauter set to make historic debut as part of Wild Card roster

DeLauter, whose promotion was first teased yesterday, is set to become the first player to make their major league debut in the postseason since Ryan Weathers was one of three players to make their debut in the 2020 postseason. 

When he gets into a game, he’ll become the first player to make their debut in a 162-game season since Adalberto Mondesí made his debut for the Royals in the 2015 World Series. 

This promotion has been a long time coming for DeLauter, who currently ranks as the Guardians’ No. 2 prospect at MLB Pipeline. He has the kind of power the Guardians have long been searching for in their outfield, but he hasn’t been able to stay on the field due to a variety of injuries. 

Now he’ll get a chance to make an incredible first impression through the postseason. 

While his inclusion is a surprise, the rest of the roster played in a pretty predictable way. The Guardians elected to leave starting pitchers Parker Messick and Logan Allen off the roster due to the Wild Card Series being a best-of-three series, which is why they’re carrying so many position players. 

Austin Hedges and Bo Naylor are the team’s catchers while the infield picture consists of familiar faces in José Ramírez, Kyle Manzardo, Gabriel Arias, Daniel Schneemann, Brayan Rocchio and Angel Martínez, whereas the outfield has plenty of intriguing names next to DeLauter. 

After spending most of the season at Triple-A, Jhonkensy Noel and Johnathan Rodríguez are on the roster in the starting lineup at first base and right field, respectively. The rest of the Guardians’ outfield picture consists of Steven Kwan, DeLauter, Petey Halpin, C.J. Kayfus and George Valera. 

While Kwan is one of the best outfielders in the game and is a mainstay in left field, the rest of the outfield picture features plenty of new names. 

Noel and Rodríguez are both hitting under .200, but they have legit power and can punish left-handed pitching, which is why they’re in the lineup today against the left-handed Tarik Skubal.

Halpin will see a lot of time as a pinch-runner or fourth outfielder, while Kayfus and Valera will get plenty of at-bats against right-handed pitching. Valera made the most of September cameo this year,, whereas Kayfus has been solid during his two-month stint and helped the Guardians clinch a postseason spot with his painful plunking. 

Outside of leaving Messick and Allen off the roster, the Guardians’ pitching staff for the series doesn’t have any surprises. Gavin Williams will get the ball in Game 1 of the series, while Tanner Bibee will go in Game 2 and Slade Cecconi would get the start in Game 3, if needed.