Minor League Baseball

Cleveland Guardians Top Prospect Undergoes Surgery, Will Miss Several Weeks

Chase DeLauter is the No. 31 in the game, per MLB Pipeline.
Brady Farkas|
MLB Cleveland Guardians right fielder Chase DeLauter
MLB Cleveland Guardians right fielder Chase DeLauter | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

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Cleveland Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians got some bad news on top prospect Chase DeLauter Wednesday, as he is set to miss much of the rest of the season with injury.

Per Zack Meisel of 'The Athletic:'

Guardians prospect Chase DeLauter underwent surgery today for a fractured hamate bone in his right hand/wrist. He’s expected to miss 6-8 weeks.

DeLauter, 23, was a first-round pick of the Guardians in 2022 out of James Madison. He had been expected to make his debut this season, but it's unclear if that's possible now. He's hitting .264 this season in 42 games, having already dealt with an injury prior. He has seven total home runs and 24 RBIs.

An outfielder, he is the No. 31 prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline.

The following comes from a portion of his prospect profile:

Few players in the Minors can match DeLauter's combination of size (6-foot-3, 235 pounds), athleticism, ability to hit for both average and power, and plate discipline. He rarely strays from the strike zone and makes repeated hard contact against all types of pitches. He has an unorthodox left-handed swing that can get long and he'll get caught on his front foot at times, but his bat speed and strength allow him to pull pitches for power and drive them the other way with authority.

The Guardians enter play on Wednesday at 50-50 through 100 games. After winning the American League Central last season, they are 2.5 games back of the third and final wild card spot in the AL.

They'll take on the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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