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Cleveland Guardians Chase DeLauter
While pitchers and catchers have reported for the Cleveland Guardians, there is one name that’s being circled to watch during Spring Training. When it comes to Chase DeLauter, he is the one player fans should watch this spring. The 24-year-old Frederick, MD native will look to be the everyday center fielder in Cleveland during the 2026 season. After playing in two games, with seven plate appearances, during the 2025 postseason, the hope is that he stays healthy and takes the next step. That being said, what should Guardians fans keep an eye on when it comes to the young power hitter?
Guardians Need DeLauter to Be an Everyday Player
GettyCleveland Guardians’ Chase DeLauter
Recently, Alden Gonzalez of ESPN published an article where he picked one player to watch for every team at Training Camp. Regarding the Guardians, the obvious choice was DeLauter. He brought up how, despite his lengthy injury history, it hasn’t necessarily clouded his potential. The fact that he made his MLB debut in the postseason for Cleveland was an indication of his potential, which remains high within the organization. People outside of the organization feel that way, too, especially when ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel ranked DeLauter as the 43rd-ranked prospect in his Top 100 for 2026.
DeLauter has shown that he can hit for average and power. He has shown flashes of having 30-plus homer potential. That was evident when he had a slash line of .302/.384/.504 to go along with 20 homers, 70 walks, and 80 strikeouts in 138 games. However, the one knock on those numbers is that 81 of those 138 games came during 2024 and 2025.
The hope is that he can stay healthy ahead of the 2026 season and break out of camp with the Guardians. Per FanGraphs, Steamer projected DeLauter to play 118 games, hitting 14 home runs, tallying 58 RBIs, and scoring 55 runs in 497 plate appearances. They think his average could be .252 with a .326 OBP, a .408 SLG, and a wOBA of .321. DeLauter’s wRC+ was projected to be 107 with a wins above replacement (WAR) of 2.1.
While all of those are projections, the hope for him and the Guardians is that he gets closer to between 130 and 140 games in 2026. That is taking into account more rest to not overwork him, compared to his injury history.
Much Needed Power Bat
While the Guardians need a right-handed power bat in the lineup to even out a very heavy left-handed group, adding DeLauter’s power could be a huge help. The Guardians finished in the bottom 10 of the league in home runs (168), so having a power bat like him hitting third or cleanup would be nice.
Furthermore, with the Guardians finishing 29th in average (.226), OBP (.296), and Slugging (.373), 30th in hits (1,199), 28th in RBIs (621), 20th in walks (494), 28th in runs (643), they need all the help they can get. If DeLauter can stay healthy and bring some high average with 30-plus home run potential, that could see a trend going in the right direction offensively for the Guardians.
If there is a chance to see Steven Kwan lead-off followed by José RamÃrez, then possibly DeLauter could make a run 1 through 3 for the Guardians in 2026. But as stated previously, can the young power hitter stay healthy to break out of camp for their first game on March 26 against the Seattle Mariners in Washington state? Only time will tell.
Zach Martin Zach Martin is a sports journalist covering the MLB, mainly the Cleveland Guardians and the Boston Red Sox, for Heavy.com. He has over four years of journalism experience, and five years of podcasting experience. He’s a credentialed Carolina Hurricanes beat writer at The Hockey Writers. Zach’s previously covered the Guardians at Covering the Corner, along with the Guardians and the Cincinnati Reds at Fansided. Zach is originally from Ravenna, Ohio, and is now based in Lexington, SC. More about Zach Martin
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