Chase DeLauter started the season strong but has since struggled, hitting just .206 with no home runs after a hot start. Despite not showing typical signs of a slump, his bat speed and performance may be affected by his injury history and increased playing time.
Key points
Chase DeLauter started the season with a 200 wRC+.
He has a batting average of .206 since his strong start.
DeLauter has a history of injuries affecting his playing time.
His bat speed correlates with performance metrics.
Apr 22, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians right fielder Chase DeLauter (24) hits a single during the third inning against the Houston Astros at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images | David Dermer-Imagn Images
Apr 22, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians right fielder Chase DeLauter (24) hits a single during the third inning against the Houston Astros at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images | David Dermer-Imagn Images
So, whatās wrong with Chase DeLauter? This has been a pretty hotly debated topic, at least online. He started the season scorching hot, putting up a 200 wRC+ in the first two series of the year. He, notably, finished his regular season debut with 2 homers, one off Andres Munoz. Since then, heās been in a weird spot. To many, it looks like a slump. A weird slump, though.
Heās not chasing more than usual, not whiffing more than usual. None of the telltale signs of a slump. No pressing, no (repeated) poor swing decisions. Through the home opener, where he went 3/4 against the Cubs with a homer and 3 RBI, he had a slashline of .346/.370/.923, good for a 250 wRC+. Since then? .206/.321/.324 (85 wRC+). But, heās walking 14.8% of the time and striking out just over 6% of the time. He hasnāt homered once since the home opener, although heās tallied 7 extra base hits (half of his total hits since then).
Heās gotten unlucky, yes. But, Iām not sure thatās telling the whole story. Over his last 50 plate appearances, his rolling xwOBA has crept below league average, sitting, now, around .300. His savant page is, still, bright red, and it shows that heās underperforming his xwOBA, albeit only by a few points (.359 to .366).
So, whatās wrong with him? DeLauter has hit at every level, and was considered one of the safest hitting prospects the Guardians have ever produced. But, he doesnāt seem to be slumping, at least in the stereotypical way. I decided to look at something that I thought might provide some answer as to whatās going on with him. If heās not pressing and setting himself up repeatedly in bad counts, whatās going on?
As we all know the topline of almost every story about DeLauter, throughout his professional career, has been his injury history. Since being drafted, heās never playued more than 60 games in a minor league season. So far this year, heās played in 27 of the Guardiansā first 30 games. So, hereās a graph of his bat speed, labeled with, at least what I think, are notable points on the graph that should be explained. Disclaimer, before you look at it, is that most players are going to have somewhat drastic bat speed fluctuations throughout the year, and usually the continued stretch of games in which a playerās bat speed is *higher* than usual are the ones in which the player does the best. with a number of metrics (wOBA, xSLGCON, Barrel%, Hard-Hit%, Average Exit Velocity), so I thought it might explain why heās been performing more poorly recently, even when heās walking over twice as often as heās striking out.
Again, disclaimer, this is a small sample size. Youād, ideally, like at least 60 games of a sample to determine whether or not his bat speed correlates with the amount of playing time heās getting. But, I donāt want to wait that long, so weāll try to work with what we have. As you can see, the majority of the low points on the graphs correspond with games in which heās played multiple games in a row, in which heās mostly played the field. Iāve noticed that DHāing doesnāt necessarily always mean heās going to perform better (.830 OPS in RF, .782 OPS as DH), but youād think it might help the strain off of a playerās body throughout an extremely strenuous 162 game stretch, or even a stretch in which a team plays 13 straight games in 3 different cities. Heās strangely been siginificantly better on the road (.878 OPS vs .762 OPS), but that is most likely buoyed by his torrid stretch in during opening weekend.
If you can remember last season, when there were constant rumors about DeLauter being called up over the summer, Chris Antonettiās response seemed to always sound something like āWeāre very excited about Chase, but we want to see him built up with his conditioning to be able to withstand an 162-game seasonā. DeLauter last year in the minors never played more than 3 games in a row, and rarely played 3 games in a row. This season? Heās played >3 days in a row \ times. Now, the guy who (even now) is still one of your best hitters is *of course* going to force himself into the lineup more often than not. But, at a certain point, you have to ask yourself whether the ends justify the means. That is, if his performance keeps slipping when heās playing multiple games in a row, is it worth it to have him in the lineup just to have him in the lineup? Wouldnāt he be more valuable with *more* days off, so that when heās in the lineup, heās actually productive? On days in which heās played *at least* 3 days in a row, heās slashing .200/.286/.320 (.606 OPS). On all other days, heās slashing .261/.350/.551 (.901 OPS).
So, whatās the solution? The Vogt Punt Game**ā¢**, as I like to call it. In every game that precedes an off day, keep him out of the lineup. Punt it. Weāre all too familiar with these punt games, perhaps the most infamous of which was that horrid Sunday morning Roku game against , where he madduxed the Guardians (1 of 2 madduxes twirled against the Guardians in 2025). Donāt pinch-hit, donāt pinch-run, donāt bring him in as a defensive replacement. Leave him out of the lineup. His bat is far too important to this team, and you have to do whatever necessary to give him the best chance to succeed. Obviously itās early, and his body isnāt used to this amount of stress. He might acclimate to the season, and he might only do that if you play him more often. Regardless, the learning curve should be far less steep than it is now. Ease him into 5/6 games a week.
There is, of course, more to this slow stretch than just the things I mentioned. Any rookie who starts their season the way that DeLauter did is bound to get adjusted to far more quickly than your average player. The zone in which he was doing the most damage (inside), is getting attacked far differently than it was before. Before his slump, he was crushing inside fastballs. Since then, the league has adjusted. Theyāve stopped throwing him sinkers and cutters (.548 xwOBA, 1.014 xwOBA) inside, and have started attacking him with breaking pitches. This has, in turn, hurt his numbers on inside 4-seamers. Seeing more spin inside has gotten him off 4-seams, going from a .440 xwOBA on those pitches to a .251.
To say the least, thereās a lot going into this slump from DeLauter. The league adjusted to him ā he has to adjust back. But underneath all of this, the Guardians have to put him in the best position to succeed. To be blunt, they need to bubble-wrap him. No more 3 days in a row. While the DH option is there, it doesnāt seem to be helping. He needs to have more rest to be able to be the best hitter possible.
Q&A
What is Chase DeLauter's current batting average and performance metrics?
Chase DeLauter has a current batting average of .206 with a wRC+ of 85 since his strong start.
How has Chase DeLauter's injury history impacted his performance?
Chase DeLauter has a history of injuries that limited his playing time, which may affect his current performance and consistency.
What are the reasons behind Chase DeLauter's recent struggles at the plate?
His recent struggles may be attributed to fluctuating bat speed and the impact of playing multiple games in a row without adequate rest.
How does Chase DeLauter's performance differ when playing at home versus on the road?
Chase DeLauter has performed significantly better on the road with an OPS of .878 compared to .762 at home.
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