WEST SACRAMENTO -- Chase DeLauter consistently looks to carry confidence with him into the batter’s box. The way he put it, if a hitter doesn’t maintain that perspective -- whether they’re going through some highs or lows -- they’re already beat.
“It's tough,” DeLauter said. “It's way easier said than done, for sure. But that's step one.”
There have been more highs than lows lately for DeLauter, who continued his strong stretch offensively on Sunday in the Guardians’ 7-1 loss to the A’s at Sutter Health Park. He went 2-for-4 with one homer to extend his hitting streak to eight games and his on-base streak to 12, both of which are career highs.
DeLauter hit five home runs over his first seven games this season. Baseball is a game of constant ebbs and flows, and the rookie outfielder experienced that firsthand. Over his next 14 games, DeLauter went 7-for-47 (.149) with no home runs. He drew 10 walks with only four strikeouts.
“The league circles your name pretty quick when you hit five homers in the first week,” manager Stephen Vogt said.
DeLauter has turned the tide and then some. Day 2 of his on-base streak was April 21, when he hit an eighth-inning three-run triple that spurred the Guardians to an 8-5 win over the Astros. Over his past 12 games, he’s gone 18-for-43 (.419) with five extra-base hits, nine RBIs and seven walks with only three strikeouts.
It could be easy for a rookie to succumb to the highs or the inevitable low points of the six-month baseball season. DeLauter is maintaining perspective derived from his unique journey to the Majors. Injuries limited him to 138 Minor League games after he was selected 16th overall in the 2022 MLB Draft.
“Honestly, just remembering that I'm grateful to be out there,” DeLauter said. “I've had a weird path to get there, a lot of injuries, a lot of time [rehabbing] in Arizona that I wish I could have back at any moment.
“Whether you're riding the highs or riding the lows, it's, 'Show up every day and prepare to play,' and that's it.”
DeLauter has hit in bunches during this strong stretch, but he went a long time without hitting a home run. Entering Sunday, his most recent home run was exactly one month prior, on April 3 against the Cubs.
Facing A’s starter Aaron Civale, DeLauter extended both of his streaks in the first inning with a first-pitch single on a sinker over the middle of the plate.
When DeLauter and Civale squared off for a third time, in the fifth inning, the right-hander continued to pound the strike zone up and away. He threw two splitters for balls then a cutter for a strike. Civale came back with a 2-1 sinker up and away, and DeLauter drove it a Statcast-projected 356 feet over the left-field wall for a solo homer.
“I think I said early on this year, [home runs] come in bunches and they don't come in bunches,” DeLauter said. “I don't really like to think of myself as a home run-strikeout kind of guy. I feel like I'm a hitter, so I just try to put the barrel to the ball, and wherever it goes, it goes.”
The hits certainly have come in bunches for DeLauter recently, including this weekend. In the three-game series against the A’s, he went 8-for-11 while adding two doubles, three RBIs and three walks with one strikeout.
The Guardians were looking for a sweep on Sunday, but the A’s scored six times across the fifth and sixth innings. Elsewhere among Cleveland rookies, starter Parker Messick (who entered the day with a 1.73 ERA in six starts) surrendered four runs and three homers, both tying career highs.
Colby Thomas hit a first-pitch cutter from Messick for a solo homer in the second. In the fifth, Zack Gelof hit a 2-2 slider for a solo shot and Tyler Soderstrom went deep off an 0-2 slider to go back to back.
“I think I mis-executed three pitches, and all three of them got hit out of the yard,” Messick said.
Rookie Peyton Pallette permitted three runs in the sixth. He walked two and allowed a single before Jeff McNeil hit a bases-clearing double to give the A’s a six-run lead. Pallette (whom the Guardians selected in the Rule 5 Draft in December) has now walked 10 in 13 2/3 innings over 10 appearances. Sunday marked his first appearance since Tuesday.
“Just a couple of outings now for Peyton where the command’s getting away from him,” Vogt said. “You see the stuff, and when he's throwing strikes, it's sharp and it's tough to square up.”