DeLauter opens regular-season debut with some history ... and ends it with more!

SEATTLE -- Chase DeLauter is here, Cleveland. And he might be pretty special.

DeLauter made his regular-season MLB debut in Thursday’s Opening Day matchup against the Mariners, and ushered in the new season in grand fashion. The 24-year-old (who’s ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 46 overall prospect) crushed a home run in his first at-bat, off Mariners right-hander Logan Gilbert to give the Guardians an early 1-0 lead.

But he wasn't done there. DeLauter launched a second home run in the ninth inning, to provide a key insurance run in the Guardians' 6-4 win over the Mariners at T-Mobile Park. He became the first player in Cleveland franchise history with multiple home runs in his regular-season debut, and, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the sixth since at least 1900. Trevor Story (2016) most recently pulled off the feat.

Thursday technically marked DeLauter’s big league debut, but not his first taste of the Majors. He, of course, became only the sixth player to make their MLB debut in the postseason this past fall, after a Minor League career in which he dealt with a host of injury setbacks following his selection in the first round of the 2022 MLB Draft.

“It’s unbelievable,” said DeLauter’s dad, Jason. “I know the debut in the playoffs, he was super excited about that. We were blindsided by it, to be able to get called up like that. He's just worked. He's continued to work. None of this was guaranteed.”

Jason was one of a flurry of DeLauter’s loved ones in attendance on Thursday, along with his mom, stepdad, brother and friends. They had a front-row seat in the first inning, when DeLauter’s hit a Statcast-projected 358-foot homer that had a 102.2 mph exit velocity. It was just enough to get over the outstretched glove of right fielder Luke Raley.

DeLauter's blast in the ninth was a no-doubter. He hit it 111.1 mph and 422 feet, per Statcast.