Cleveland Guardians prospect Chase DeLauter has been among the most impressive players in the organization during spring training play.
The 2022 first-round pick homered again on Tuesday against the Colorado Rockies, and the team’s official Twitter account highlighted his powerful swing and gave him a new nickname.
“Chase DeLauncher seems like an appropriate nickname at this point,” they tweeted, with a video of his compact, sweet swing.
Chase DeLauncher seems like an appropriate nickname at this point. 😮💨#GuardsSpring pic.twitter.com/B0SL6mHcUm
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) March 20, 2024
It might not be the prettiest swing of all time, but you can’t deny it’s powerful, short, and effective.
The timing mechanism, the leg and hip movement, and the timely explosion are all on point.
DeLauter is so good that in his first professional season last year, he hit .355/.417/.528 with a .945 OPS between three levels, peaking at Double-A.
Despite having an impressive spring with a .520 batting average and a 1.640 OPS (and four home runs), the player is expected to open the season in Double-A.
Service-time implications surely had something to do in this decision, but it’s true that he could use some development time in the upper minors.
One thing is certain, though: if he keeps hitting like this, DeLauter will prove he is ready for The Show at some point in the second half.
The Guardians, who will have a lot of competition to win the AL Central or earn a playoff spot, will certainly need his offensive contributions this year should he continue to develop as nicely as he has.
Cleveland appears to have a future star in DeLauter.
He should be ready to provide solutions for the Guardians’ offensive issues.
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