LOS ANGELES -- Guardians rookie right fielder Chase DeLauter exited Tuesday's 4-1 loss to the Dodgers with a left foot contusion after fouling a pitch off the foot in the top of the first inning.
DeLauter was checked on by a trainer but stayed in to finish his at-bat, grounding out to first base. He hobbled trying to leave the batter’s box and did not take the field in the bottom half of the frame. CJ Kayfus replaced him in right field.
Manager Stephen Vogt said Wednesday’s series finale in L.A. was a planned off-day for DeLauter anyway. The Guardians are off on Thursday before heading back to Cleveland for Friday’s home opener against the Cubs, in which DeLauter said he plans to play.
“X-rays were negative, and that was clearly the best-case scenario, especially to that foot, having some past surgeries done to that side,” DeLauter said postgame. “So that being negative was a huge win, and [I’ll] go from there.”
The Guardians’ No. 2 prospect per MLB Pipeline (No. 44 overall), DeLauter has endured a litany of injuries already in his professional career, including two serious ones to his left foot. He broke the foot in 2023 at James Madison University and fractured it the following year. He did not require surgery the second time.
DeLauter played in only 39 games in 2024 and 42 games in '25 due to various injuries, including core muscle surgery and wrist surgery. He said that injury history with his left foot crossed his mind as he dealt with the initial pain on Tuesday.
“It’s hard not to think there's something going on in an area,” he said. “Thankfully it seems to be just a contusion, the X-rays came back clean, so I think now we’re just dealing with a nice bone bruise in that area.”
DeLauter wears a guard on his right foot, which as his front foot is a more common target for foul balls.
“It's just a freak accident,” he said. “Never had that happen before, where I foul a ball off my back foot. But it can happen, I guess.”
DeLauter said he felt fine swinging after the foul ball, but decided it was best to play it safe after attempting to run to first base.
The 24-year-old is coming off a red-hot opening series for the Guardians, earning American League Player of the Week honors after slugging four home runs in his first three career regular-season games. He joined Trevor Story (2016) as the only players in MLB history to accomplish that feat.
DeLauter, who last October became only the sixth player to make his MLB debut in the postseason, is already a crucial cog in Cleveland’s offense. He has batted second, between Steven Kwan and José Ramírez, in all six games this season.
If DeLauter were to miss time, Petey Halpin would be a likely candidate to fill in. Halpin, who appeared in six games for the Guardians last September, is on the 40-man roster and began the season with Triple-A Columbus. Halpin slashed .267/.389/.533 with two home runs and a .922 OPS in 15 Spring Training games. Outfielder George Valera, who is coming back from a left calf strain, began a rehab assignment with Columbus on Tuesday.
While DeLauter appeared to evade a serious injury, Guardians ace Tanner Bibee also showed progress in his second start of the season. Bibee had exited his season debut with right shoulder inflammation, but did not miss time.
Bibee struck out four Dodgers across four innings of one-run ball. He walked two and surrendered four hits. His punchout of Mookie Betts to end the third inning was the 500th strikeout of his career.
“Tanner was outstanding,” said Vogt. “Obviously he reached his pitch count through four, but he threw the ball exceptional. He kept the velocity the whole time, no signs of any kind of issues. Really good job by Tanner. He kept us in the game.”