Chase DeLauter has been in this lane before, and that’s why his message to Cardinals rookie Joshua Báez comes with a little extra weight.
Báez made his major league debut Saturday at Wrigley Field and turned it into a show, launching home runs in each of his first three at-bats. It was the kind of opening act that makes people reach for superlatives fast. DeLauter’s reaction was immediate, too.
“What he did was unbelievable,” DeLauter said Sunday. “I wouldn’t want to say it’s all downhill from there, but I’d be surprised if he put another one of those together the very next day, maybe. I’ve definitely seen crazier things.”
DeLauter, the Guardians rookie, knows the feeling of arriving and making an instant statement. He homered twice in his first regular-season game on March 26 at Seattle, becoming the seventh player since 1889 to hit two home runs in his MLB regular season debut. He added another homer in each of his next two games against the Mariners and wound up with five through his first seven games, tied for the second-most in major league history.
That kind of start can make the outside noise swell quickly. DeLauter’s point to Báez is simple: don’t let one wild day rewrite who you are.
“I’m sure he’s been through the ebbs and flows of baseball and kind of understands how it is,” DeLauter said. “Nothing in the past or future really matters. It’s be where your feet are and just go put up quality at-bats.”
Báez had plenty of time to learn that lesson before reaching the majors. St.
Louis took him in the second round in 2021 out of Dexter Southfield High School in Brookline, Massachusetts, and he spent more than 450 minor league games piling up more than 1,500 at-bats. In that stretch, he hit 78 home runs and drove in 275 runs.
DeLauter said his own early power burst never changed the standard he set for himself.
“You can’t raise your expectations off one day,” he said.
His numbers since that opening weekend have backed up that approach. DeLauter entered Sunday hitting .286 with 13 home runs and 57 RBI. He has reached base in 91 of 106 games and struck out only 64 times in 452 plate appearances.
For him, the first homers in Seattle were confirmation, not a new identity.
“Of course you want to see that first ball go over the fence, just to know you get that one out of the way,” DeLauter said. “But at the end of the day, it’s putting up as many quality at-bats as possible.”
That’s the real takeaway he wants Báez to hold onto after a debut like that: enjoy the moment, but don’t start chasing it.
“When they come, they come and enjoy them,” DeLauter said. “But don’t let yourself fall into the hole when things aren’t going great either. Try to be emotionless through it all.”
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