WASHINGTON — Chase DeLauter, the Guardians’ No. 2 prospect according to MLB Pipeline and the club’s top draft pick in 2022, is back on the field with their Arizona Complex League team in Goodyear as he recovers from sports hernia surgery in March.

DeLauter, eight weeks post-op, was in the lineup batting second for the ACL Guardians against the ACL Athletics on Tuesday. Guardians general manager Mike Chernoff said it is exciting to see DeLauter, 23, work his way back onto the field knowing how hard he’s worked to get back.

“It’s been a tough road,” Chernoff said. “He has had to go through so much injury-wise. Hopefully these are the first steps in getting him built up to be able to get into games, work his way back up and hopefully be an option for us at some point soon.”

At three different levels that year, DeLauter hit .355 (76 for 214) with 22 doubles, five homers and 30 RBI. But injuries have plagued the left-handed hitting outfielder since he was selected by Cleveland with the No. 16 overall pick three years ago.

DeLauter made three trips to the injured list last year. At Double-A Akron he was sidelined with a sprained left foot and a bruised right big toe after having a great spring training with the big league club. After being promoted to Columbus, he was sidelined with a left hamstring pull.

Since beginning baseball activities on his rehab from a bilateral core repair procedure in March, DeLauter has participated in live batting practice and cage work, all under the the watchful eye of Cleveland’s training staff.

“We’re counting the number of swings that he takes, the number of high intensity runs he does, and then we’ll be very thoughtful in those ACL games on how much time he’s on his feet and how many swings he’s getting,” Chernoff said. “That way we can work him up to full games, back-to-back games and hopefully full progression at that point before he heads to an affiliate.”

The good news is, DeLauter has already found a bit of success during his live batting practice sessions. While working alongside rehabbing All-Star David Fry, he hit a pair of home runs. One of them may or may not have come against Shane Bieber or Trevor Stephan, who are also working in Arizona.

“We’re getting some pretty good commentary from our major league players who are out there, and they’re like, ‘Wow, this guy looks good,’” Chernoff said.

Building back up

Meanwhile in Arizona, former Guardians top prospect Triston McKenzie is looking to reclaim a starting role as he participates in workouts while on the minor league development list.

Prior to this season, McKenzie pitched primarily as a starter, totaling 21 wins and 28 losses in 80 starts with a 4.02 ERA and 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings. But he was relegated to the bullpen coming out of spring training, making four relief appearances and allowing seven runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He was released on April 21 and assigned outright to Columbus the following week.

“We want to build him back up to where he can start again,” Chernoff said. “He’s working through a progression just to build his volume back up.”