Cleveland Guardians’ Chase DeLauter made a historic MLB debut, hitting four homers in three games, earning him the American League Player of the Week award.
CLEVELAND — Rookie outfielder Chase DeLauter of the Cleveland Guardians has been named the American League Player of the Week after a historic start to his Major League career.
The 24-year-old hit .353 (6-for-17) with four home runs, five RBIs and five runs scored over four games. He posted a 1.059 slugging percentage and a .353 on-base percentage while leading the majors in home runs and total bases (18). He also tied for the Major League lead in extra-base hits (four), tied for third in RBIs and runs scored, and ranked 10th in slugging percentage.
A native of Frederick, Maryland, DeLauter made his Major League debut during the 2025 American League Wild Card Series against the Detroit Tigers. He then made an immediate impact in his regular season debut on Opening Day, hitting two home runs to help lead the Guardians to a 6-4 win over Seattle. He became the first player in franchise history, dating to 1901, to hit multiple home runs in his regular season debut and the fifth to homer in his first career plate appearance.
The former first-round pick (16th overall) in the 2022 MLB Draft continued his power surge with home runs on Friday and Saturday, becoming the first player in franchise history to homer in each of his first three regular season games. He is one of four players in Major League history to accomplish the feat, joining Munetaka Murakami, Kyle Lewis and Trevor Story.
DeLauter also joined Story as the only players in Major League history to hit four home runs through their first three career regular season games. In addition, the James Madison University product became just the second player in MLB history to record at least 17 total bases in his first three games, matching Jorge Soler, who reached the mark in 2014 with Kansas City.