CLEVELAND -- Chase DeLauter has solidified himself as a centerpiece to the Guardians' lineup as a rookie this season. When he did not take his place in right field in the third inning on Sunday at Progressive Field, you couldn’t help but hold your breath.
DeLauter exited the Guardians’ 5-0 loss to the Padres due to mild left hamstring tightness. Jo Adell moved from left field to right, and Angel Martínez replaced DeLauter in the lineup, playing left.
“He felt it his last [warmup] sprint right before the game,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said postgame. “He felt a little cramping sensation in his hamstring, and it just didn't quite loosen up. He's got some tightness in the hamstring, and we just felt ‘Let's not risk this thing. Let's get him off his feet.’
"Just out of an abundance of caution, we got him out of there.”
Sunday’s game began with a three-hour, 11-minute rain delay. The hope here is that strange circumstances played into this more than anything, and the Guardians caught it before DeLauter risked something serious by continuing to try to play. He has been incredibly durable this season after his path to the Majors was marked by myriad injury setbacks.
Sunday was DeLauter’s 106th game, which is his new single-season career high at any professional level. Though the 25-year-old spent 11 days on the 10-day injured list in June with a fracture in his right rib cage, that was a freak accident stemming from a collision with the right-field wall on June 13.
DeLauter has otherwise managed to stay on the field and performed well along the way.
DeLauter has a .285/.358/.442 slash line with a team-leading 22 doubles, 13 home runs, 57 RBIs and 47 walks with 64 strikeouts this season. He was named the American League Rookie of the Month in July, when he slashed .298/.368/.489 with six doubles, four homers and 11 RBIs over 24 games.
DeLauter has drawn 57 starts in right field and 45 at designated hitter this season. The Guardians have been mindful of his physical workload given his injury history. He played just 42 games in the Minors last year in between recoveries for sports hernia surgery and right hamate surgery.