On Tuesday, Cleveland Guardians star prospect Chase DeLauter played just his sixth spring game. The team is bringing him along slowly, given his injury history.
In the last few days, DeLauter had to deal with some lower-body soreness. He didn’t see any Cactus League action from February 23rd until March 1st, when he returned and hit a home run.
After that, the sweet-swinging lefty didn’t play again until March 6. According to analyst Justin Lada, the lower-body issues might have been messing with his timing.
“Lots of groundouts today for Chase DeLauter. The EVs have been good. Wonder if that is a timing/consistency thing since his playing time has been broken up with the rest and hamstring issue. Hopefully, his legs aren’t so sore that he’s having a hard time lifting the ball,” he wrote on X.
Lot of groundouts today for Chase DeLauter. The EVs have been good. Wonder if that is a timing/consistency thing since his playing time has been broken up with the rest and hamstring issue. Hopefully his legs aren't so sore he's having a hard time lifting the ball.
— Justin L. (jlbaseball on bluesky) (@JL_Baseball) March 10, 2026
While it might be premature to jump to conclusions based on one spring game, Lada might be onto something. It’s a plausible theory, at least.
Hitters need their hips and legs to fully unleash their power, and if DeLauter is still feeling something, even if it’s minor, it might be affecting his power output.
On Tuesday, he had three batted ball events, all groundouts with at least a 99.6 mph exit velocity and a negative launch angle. Again, it might be just a coincidence, but it’s something worth monitoring.
DeLauter is still having a great spring statistically speaking, with a .438 batting average, a 1.221 OPS, a home run, and four RBI in six games. He is widely expected to win a spot on the Guardians’ Opening Day roster and feature as the primary right fielder going forward, provided that he can stay healthy.
That last part has been a challenge throughout his professional career, but he is trying to leave all the health-related struggles behind and finally take off as a middle-of-the-order threat in Cleveland.
If he is physically fine, Tuesday’s game will be nothing more than an anecdote. Every hitter has had three groundouts in a game, even Barry Bonds.
But if he feels weakness or discomfort in his lower body come late March or April, it could potentially hinder his ability to hit for power.
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