5 Cleveland Guardians who have excelled at the plate in Spring Training

1. Chase DeLauter

How could this list not start off with Chase DeLauter? The 22-year-old has been tearing the cover off the baseball this spring, tied for a team-high 13 hits with Josh Naylor and leading the team with four home runs. Slashing a ludicrous .520/.600/.1.040 with an OPS of 1.640, DeLauter has stood out among not only the prospects in Arizona but the expected major league regulars. This shows just how special of a talent he is and what can be expected of him once he does get the call to the majors.

Let's focus on that last part - once the organization calls him up to the majors. The expectation is that the Guardians plan to keep DeLauter in the minors to get somewhere in the range of 200-250 at-bats. While it is understandable that the organization wants to ensure that he develops and progresses properly, in addition to getting playing time on a daily basis. However, the playing time issue could have been taken care of if they were willing to give DeLauter a genuine chance at making the Opening Day roster over someone such as Estevan Florial, someone who has not taken advantage of the opportunity given to him this spring. Anyway, DeLauter will be in Cleveland eventually. Let's just hope that the Guardians are still in the thick of the division race at that point.