Chase DeLauter rakes fifth home run in seventh career regular-season game as Guardians top Cubs in home opener

When Cleveland Guardians rookie right fielder Chase DeLauter fouled a Shohei Ohtani pitch off his back foot on Tuesday night, it looked like the 24-year-old himself might be the only one who could actually put a stop to his season-opening power surge.

After grounding out later in that at-bat, DeLauter left the game with a left foot contusion, and he didn’t play in the series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers the following day, although manager Stephen Vogt said DeLauter was supposed to be off regardless.

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With negative X-rays, DeLauter was confident he’d return to the lineup for the Guardians’ home opener on Friday. He was back, and the same could be said for his seismic swing, which delivered another home run in a 4-1 win over the Chicago Cubs.

DeLauter has now hit five home runs over his first seven career regular-season games, tied for the second most in such a span since at least 1900, according to MLB researcher and reporter Sarah Langs.

The only player with more in that data set is Trevor Story, who scattered seven homers across the first seven games of his rookie season with the Colorado Rockies.

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Last year, DeLauter became just the sixth player to make his major-league debut in the postseason, per MLB.com. He went 1-for-6 at the plate during an AL wild-card series that Cleveland wound up losing to the Detroit Tigers.

After getting a taste of the bigs, the Jame Madison University product has remained in the spotlight this season, and he’s flourished in the No. 2 spot in the Guards’ lineup.

He came into Friday slashing .273/.304/.818, and then he had a 3-for-4 day against the Cubs. DeLauter knocked an RBI single in the fifth inning, and then he blasted a two-run homer in the seventh to secure a three-RBI performance.

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That long ball traveled 402 feet.

Him bouncing back quickly from his left foot contusion is encouraging for Cleveland, especially since that foot’s caused him trouble before. While at JMU in 2023, he broke it, as reported by MLB.com, which also noted that DeLauter went on to fracture the foot the following year.

A contusion had nothing on those prior injuries and was a stomachable injury to deal with in the wake of his head-turning season-opening series. DeLauter joined Story as the only players in MLB history to mash four homers over their first three regular-season games. He did so en route to earning AL Player of the Week honors.

The latest chapter of DeLauter’s rookie story was written Friday, this time in Cleveland.