Chase DeLauter’s rookie season has already put him in rare Guardians territory, and the final month could decide whether he turns that production into a Silver Slugger case.
Cleveland hasn’t had an outfielder win the award since Michael Brantley in 2014, when he hit .327 with 20 home runs, 97 doubles and 45 doubles en route to a third-place MVP finish along with a Silver Slugger win. Since then, plenty of outfielders have cycled through the grass for the Guardians, but none has put together an offensive season that matched that standard.
DeLauter has at least pushed the conversation back onto the table.
Even with a month missed because of injury and other bumps and bruises along the way, he’s sitting on a .289/.363/.451 slashline with 13 home runs, 59 RBI and 22 doubles in 112 games. That’s enough to give him a legitimate shot at his first career Silver Slugger, especially after the kind of offensive start he put together early in the year.
What’s made DeLauter so interesting is that his game has evolved beyond the power burst he opened with. He’s spent much of the season showing a hitter’s approach built on working counts, putting the ball in play and finding the gaps.
That was on display Wednesday against the Angels, when he came off the bench as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning of a tied game and lined the second pitch he saw up the middle to put the go-ahead run on base. The ball came off his bat at 101 miles per hour, but the real value was in the simplicity of the swing: no extra, no chasing, just a clean barrel on a curveball down in the zone.
The power hasn’t vanished, though. DeLauter’s 13 homers are part of a profile that also includes a 77th-percentile hard-hit rate and an 85th-percentile average exit velocity. At the plate, he’s been just as sharp in the strike-zone battle, with 50 walks against 67 strikeouts, a 93rd-percentile whiff rate and a 92nd-percentile chase rate.
He may not be about to post the kind of home run total Aaron Judge did last year when he won the AL’s right field Silver Slugger, but DeLauter still owns an .814 OPS despite what amounts to a pretty ordinary homer total.
The award race isn’t simple, though. Boston’s Wilyer Abreu looks like the favorite, and new teammate Jo Adell is in the mix as well.
Adell’s arrival matters for another reason, too: it could affect DeLauter’s path to eligibility at the position. DeLauter has split his time evenly between right field and designated hitter, with 59 games at each spot, and he’ll need more right-field innings down the stretch to qualify there.
That could be a challenge, because Adell has mostly handled right field since joining the Guardians. Cleveland also may prefer to keep DeLauter at designated hitter more often to take pressure off his legs and avoid aggravating the hamstring issue that has lingered in the background.
Even if the eligibility piece ends up working against him, the larger point is hard to miss: DeLauter has been so productive in his rookie year that a Silver Slugger conversation is already real.
In Other News...
Guardians No Longer Need The Kind Of Waiver Gamble Fans Remember
Late-summer waiver drama has become one of those old baseball customs that still grabs attention, even if it no longer carries the same edge it once did. The Reds putting Eugenio Surez and TJ Friedl on waivers is a reminder of how clubs still use every roster mechanism available in August, whether the goal is to open a path for another team to claim a player or simply to create flexibility without making a louder move.
For Cleveland fans, there is at least a little distance from the kind of waiver gamble that used to feel much more urgent. Reports suggest both Reds players are likely to clear and stay put, but the larger point is the same: this is a cost-cutting move first and foremost, not necessarily the start of a major reshuffle. If either player ends up designated for assignment, the next step would only deepen the attention on a transaction that is more about savings than a fresh baseball fit. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Face A Tough Choice With Their Hottest Power Prospect
Ralphy Velazquez has done everything a power prospect can do to force the issue at Triple-A Columbus, where the Guardians No. 2 prospect has spent August launching home runs and putting himself squarely into the conversation for a September call-up. For a Cleveland club that always has to balance present needs with future value, his surge has only sharpened the question of whether the organization should give him a taste of the majors before seasons end.
The hold-up is the familiar one for a young hitter with upside: age, roster math and where he fits defensively all make the decision more complicated than a hot month would suggest. Cleveland is weighing whether a promotion now is worth the potential impact on his long-term development, and for all the noise Velazquez has made with the bat, the Guardians still have to decide if this is the right moment to open that door. [Read more 🡒]
Travis Bazzana Is Giving Guardians Fans A New Reason To Believe
Travis Bazzanas first months in the majors gave Guardians fans exactly the kind of jolt a debuting rookie can provide. After reaching Cleveland in late April and opening with a strong start that even earned him an All-Star nod, he looked like a player who could help steady a lineup looking for a spark, and his recent stretch has come at the same time the club has started to string together wins.
His bat had drifted back toward league average for a while, but Bazzana has picked it up again during Clevelands seven-game winning streak, a run built on resilience and late-game answers. He has been part of several key plays in that surge, and in a season that has already demanded patience, the rookie is beginning to look like more than a bright spot. [Read more 🡒]