The time is now for Chase DeLauter to make the leap and establish himself as a key member of the Cleveland Guardians’ outfield. He has all the ability in the world and the team clearly thinks highly of him after calling him up to make his MLB debut in the playoffs last season.
His only issue has been staying healthy. He has been injured just about every year since he joined the organization, and he has already been slightly banged up in Spring Training, which is why one insider recently suggested a funny idea to get him ready for Opening Day.
Joe Noga of The Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast recently said in an article for Cleveland.com that it’s time to put DeLauter in bubble wrap to ensure he makes it to Opening Day healthy. He sees him as the starting right fielder and a pivotal member of the lineup and is worried about his injury history rearing its ugly head again before the season gets underway.
“Put [Chase DeLauter] in bubble wrap for the next week,” Noga said. “Make sure he gets on the plane to Seattle next week. And as long as nothing happens between now and then, we’re looking at the starting right fielder and a guy who’s pretty much going to be a linchpin for this lineup.”
DeLauter has a 1.076 OPS in 28 at-bats this spring and has checked all the boxes to earn the job as the starting right fielder. It looks as if Steven Kwan will be moving to center field full-time, which is the position where DeLauter debuted last season, so shifting him over to right takes a little more pressure off of him and will hopefully help him stay healthy as well.
There are legitimate reasons for optimism that this offense is going to take a step forward, and DeLauter is as big a reason for that as any. He has been one of this organization’s biggest prospects for years and at 24 years of age, the stage is set for him to make the most of the golden opportunity he has in front of him.
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