So far this spring, one player in the Cleveland Guardians organization who has impressed is outfield prospect Chase DeLauter.
Ahead of the 2024 season, the 22-year-old is Cleveland’s top-ranked prospect by both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America, and the club’s third-ranked prospect by The Athletic. He is also on each publication’s Preseason MLB Top 100 Prospects list (ranked 29th by Baseball America, 31st by MLB Pipeline, and 81st by The Athletic).
He has certainly lived up to these billings through 13 games in the 2024 Cactus League.
DeLauter is currently on pace to become the first Guardians player to hit at least .500 with at least 25 at-bats in spring training since 2018, when Gio Urshela (.500, 21-for-42) achieved the feat. Two other Cleveland players to reach these marks are Michael Brantley (.500, 25-for-50) in 2014, and Lonnie Chisenhall (.500, 13-for-26) in 2011.
At the moment, DeLauter leads all MLB Spring Training players (minimum 25 at-bats) in batting average (.520, 13-for-25), on-base percentage (.600), slugging percentage (1.040), and OPS (1.640), and ranks third in average exit velocity (107.7 mph).
In terms of the Guardians’ spring training player pool, the 2022 first-round pick leads the team in home runs (four), RBI (10), and runs scored (nine). He has also drawn five walks, while striking out just four times.
After nine injury rehab games last season, DeLauter shined in his first professional season with both High-A Lake County and Double-A Akron.
In a combined 48 games, he hit .366 with 68 hits, 19 doubles, four home runs, 35 RBI, and a .944 OPS. He was also named both a 2023 Guardians Organization All-Star and a 2023 Arizona Fall League Fall-Star.
DeLauter has continued this success with a strong spring, during which he has faced some Major League pitching.
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