The most intriguing player in camp for the Cleveland Guardians has been one who seemingly has a slim of being on the Opening Day roster.
This is Chase DeLauter's first major league spring training but he's certainly making an impression. But it's not all about the stats as DeLauter said he's trying to learn as much as he can from both the veteran players and coaches.
"It's unbelievable, these are the guys that are in the show," said DeLauter.
"It's great to be around them, learn from them, build a connection with them," Chase said he's been able to take in a little bit of everything being around the team. "What isn't to learn? [Myles Straw] is unbelievable in the outfield with communicating. The coaching staff is unbelievable with approaches, with what I'm trying to do in the box. I mean, positing, base running, all of it."
The more DeLauter learns to be a big leaguer, the more his stats look like one. He's appeared in nine games and has 15 at-bats up to this point in camp. In those appearances, he has a slash line of .467/.529/.933 and an OPS of 1.462.
Power is one of the big reasons fans are so eager to see DeLauter at the big league level and he made sure to show everyone just how far he can hit the ball with a home run that left the part.
DeLauter's path to his big league debut is unclear as of now. He's only taken 21 at-bats at Double-A and has an injury history that needs to be monitored.
However, the more DeLauter understands and applies these tendencies to his game, the harder it'll be for Cleveland to keep him in the minors.
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