No. 1 prospect DeLauter making strong impression in spring

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Go ahead and dream, Guardians fans. Chase DeLauter seems to be the big bat prospect this organization has been craving for a long time.

It’s become second nature to assume that the next young hurler waiting in Cleveland’s farm system will somehow be ace-like as soon as he reaches the Majors. Yet when it comes to position players, the club hasn’t seen too many guys come up and make a tremendous difference in the lineup. DeLauter has the chance to break that trend.

DeLauter, Cleveland's No. 1 prospect and the No. 31 overall prospect per MLB Pipeline, has been the talk of Spring Training. He’ll again be the focal point in the Guardians' inaugural Spring Breakout game on Saturday against the Reds at 7:05 p.m. ET at Goodyear Ballpark. On Tuesday, he solidified why he deserves the hype when he launched his second homer of the spring to help lift the Guardians to a 3-0 victory over the Rangers at Surprise Stadium.

DeLauter will still probably begin the season in the Minors. But his arrival to the big leagues won’t be too far into the future. There have been three things this spring that have made it glaringly obvious that he could be a good fit for Cleveland’s lineup. Maybe they’ll shine even brighter in the Spring Breakout matchup.

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Professionalism
To the naked eye, it’s almost too easy to overlook DeLauter’s professionalism. When he’s in big league camp around Major League hitters, he blends in with everyone else to the point that you can forget he’s a 22-year-old Minor Leaguer in his second professional season. He doesn’t seem overwhelmed. He’s not trying to do too much.

“The kid’s got a really slow heartbeat,” Guardians hitting coach Chris Valaika said. “I can’t iterate that enough. It’s been really fun to watch someone that young take professional at-bats, knowing we have someone like that coming through our system.”

Professionalism in an at-bat is mostly defined by patience. So often, young players can get sped up when they see Major League pitching, leading to chasing pitches out of the strike zone or being too aggressive in their approaches. Not DeLauter.

“Just trusting myself, trusting my ability,” DeLauter said when asked how he keeps his poise. “I mean, trusting that’s the reason they would have put me in the lineup. So just go play.”

Power potential
Talk about things the Guardians have been craving…

There’s an obvious void in the power department, specifically in the outfield. Last year, the Guardians received 16 home runs from their outfielders. The next fewest number of homers hit by a team’s outfield was the Nationals with … 46. The need is there and DeLauter teased fans with his ability to quench their thirst in the near future once again on Tuesday, off of a lefty hurler, no less.

“That’s something I’ve been trying to work on this offseason is hitting lefties,” DeLauter said. “And pulling fastballs. If I’m able to do that, night and day.”

This is nothing new for DeLauter. He racked up five homers in 23 games in the Arizona Fall League -- when he first set off alarm bells for the Guardians that he can live up to the hype, considering he had to miss half of his first professional season last year due to left foot surgery.

Consistency
When you have power, it’s easy to lack consistency. When you are consistent as a hitter, maybe you don’t have the pop. So far, it seems like DeLauter has both.

His playing time has been sporadic. Remember, he’s not technically part of big league camp. He wasn’t a non-roster invitee. He was part of Cleveland’s depth camp of Minor Leaguers who were gifted the opportunity to work out with the big league team in the early weeks of camp, and was promised some innings in Cactus League games. Yet every chance he’s been given, he’s capitalized.

In parts of nine games, he’s gone 7-for-15 (.467) with two homers, four RBIs, one double, two walks and three strikeouts.

“Hopefully, he can carry over the things we’ve been talking about in camp,” Valaika said, “and whenever he gets to us, just hit the ground running.”

He has the glove. He has the bat. And each time he takes the field, he’s proving he also has the confidence.

“It’s easy to think about, ‘Am I good enough to play with these guys?’” DeLauter said. “I mean, these are the guys you see play on TV every day. I think it’s huge for me to trust my abilities, and have confidence in myself. It’s a lot easier said than done, but as much as you can build off of that, the sky’s the limit.”