The Cleveland Guardians have played their first two series on the road, racking up four wins in seven games against tough opponents such as the Seattle Mariners and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
On Friday, they will return home to play the Chicago Cubs in front of their fans at Progressive Field. Here are three takeaways from the first road trip:
Chase DeLauter is the real deal
It was impossible to leave Chase DeLauter and his explosive start off this list. The sweet-swinging outfielder boasts a 219 wRC+, four home runs, and an .818 slugging percentage in his first six games of the season.
The Guardians and their fans skipped a heartbeat when he was taken out of a game earlier this week after fouling a ball off his foot, but he appears to be fine and is a big candidate to return to play on Friday.
If he manages to remain healthy, DeLauter has some serious AL Rookie of the Year appeal and the potential to hit 25 home runs with above-average offensive performance.
Gavin Williams is still wild, but he sure can strike people out
On Wednesday, right-hander Gavin Williams gave the Guardians an impressive series win over the Dodgers by throwing seven scoreless frames, striking out 10 batters in the process.
He walked three, and in his first start of the year against Seattle, he gave up a whopping six free passes. It’s still an ongoing issue with Williams, who led the league in bases on balls last year.
His 20 percent walk rate in two starts is alarming, yet his 37.8 percent strikeout rate is elite. He will need to harness his stuff to reach his sky-high potential, but he sure can be dominant on the right day.
The Guardians aren’t too good at the ABS thing
The Guardians haven’t had too much luck or skill when challenging calls from the umpires with the ABS. According to Baseball Savant, they are dead last in MLB with just two successful challenges.
They have missed 10, and their 17 percent success rate is also last. It’s more of an embarrassing bit of data than a big issue, but it needed to be said.
Bo Naylor, in addition to his dismal offensive performance, has lost three of the four challenges he has initiated behind the plate, and Austin Hedges lost the only one he asked. Among batters, Gabriel Arias is 0-for-2.
NEXT: Guardians Send Message To Recently-Retired Former Catcher
