The player Guardians fans will be watching most on Opening Day

There’s nothing in sports quite like Opening Day. It’s part pageantry and spectacle while also serving as a starting block for the 162-game marathon that is the MLB season. 

It’s also a ripe breeding ground for overreactions and hot takes. If your team does well on Opening Day, it’s World Series or bust. If they lose then it’s already on to the next season. 

But Opening Day can also be a way for young players to introduce themselves to the baseball world for the first time. And the Guardians have a player who could do exactly that in Chase DeLauter. 

Chase DeLauter will have plenty of eyes on him on Opening Day

While this won’t be DeLauter’s first time making a mark on the big league stage since he appeared in two games for the Guardians in last year’s postseason, he has yet to appear in a big league regular season game for Cleveland. 

But that should change on Thursday when the Guardians take the field against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park. And when he does do that, all eyes will be on him.

Simply put, the Guardians haven’t had a player like DeLauter in years. While they’ve had plenty of homegrown talent who blossomed into All-Stars (Steven Kwan and Francisco Lindor, among others), they’ve never had a homegrown outfielder with DeLauter’s power. 

DeLauter has a legit shot at hitting 25+ home runs this season (so long as he’s able to stay on the field). Last year the Guardians outfield consisted of Steven Kwan in left and a cast of mostly underwhelming players rotating in the two spots next to him. 

Now the Guardians' outfield is going to be held down by Kwan and DeLauter, which means they’re already in a much better spot than last season. 

Now the obvious red flag here is DeLauter’s injury history. He’s yet to play in more than 57 games in any minor league season because of injuries, and the only reason he made his debut in last year’s postseason as opposed to the regular season was because he missed most of the year with injuries. 

He even had an injury scare earlier this spring, though he bounced back and has stayed healthy since. 

DeLauter showed just how good he could be on Monday when he recorded a multi-homer at Chase Field in the Guardians’ penultimate spring training game. It won’t be long until he does that in an actual big league game. 

Part of the reason why the Guardians’ front office largely stayed away from bringing in any outside competition for the outfield was because they were banking on DeLauter being able to answer the call. 

While we can debate whether that approach was the right move to make, DeLauter largely answered that call this spring and seems to be on the cusp of a breakout regular season.