Prolly the biggest, “If this guy has everyday at-bats, how is he not the top rookie?” of the current 2026 fantasy baseball rookie series, and that he made the Guards’ postseason lineup begs the question, “Why wouldn’t Chase DeLauter have everyday playing time from Jump Street?” Well, he’s a lefty so I doubt he sees everyday at-bats even if he breaks camp. He is the strong side of the platoon guy until he earns at-bats vs. everyone, which is garbage. I don’t know who started doing this with every single prospect, but I hate it. How can any lefty rookie learn to hit lefties if they never face them? Rhetorical! Guards don’t drag their heels (normally) on promoting guys so Chase DeLauter seems all but ticketed to break camp and Travis Bazzana is likely right behind him. (Maybe by June? I will go over him in-depth later in the offseason.) DeLauter was actually a guy who I wrote a 2025 fantasy outlook post for, and assumed he would break camp last year, but he was sidelined in March for three months with core surgery. Hilariously, in spring of 2024 (yes, 2024), I said this, “Saw DeLauter’s ESPN rank of 233rd overall and figured I needed to look at him. I don’t know what ESPN knows, but no one else I’ve talked to thinks he’s breaking camp. Earliest ETA is June, and a lot can happen between now and June. With that said, I don’t mind a flyer in your last round if you want to stash, but you’re going to get hit by injuries, and need to drop him by April 7th.” And that’s me quoting me! To reiterate as a question, they had DeLauter 233rd overall in 2024 rankings? What? Ha, okay, moving on. So, what can we expect from Chase DeLauter for 2026 fantasy baseball?
Guess the one big takeaway from ESPN ranking him in 2024 is Chase DeLauter has been ready for a bit (okay, there’s another takeaway to them ranking him in 2024, but we’ll move on and leave that unsaid). No, not quite ready in March of 2024, but he was likely ready in August or September of 2024, then he had a bad injury for 2025, so I don’t see how he’s not ready now. My other problem with him is he’s basically a zero in steals. That’s fine because the other tools are loud, as they say. “They” who say “loud” about “tools” are scouts. Here’s examples:
Chase DeLauter – Cleveland Guardians (1)* pic.twitter.com/DurhtZjoc9
— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) February 27, 2024
Ha, I’m not sure what else there is to show. You wanna see him take a walk, because he does that a lot too. Can’t believe we’re five or six into my rookie series and this is the first time I’m mentioning the poor video quality of these. Any hoo! Hoo this? DeLauter:
Chase DeLauter – Cleveland Guardians (4)* pic.twitter.com/cQtF8RLx0t
— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) March 20, 2024
He’s a monster lefty bat who takes a ton of walks. That’s who he is. It’s who he’s been for a few years. He went 7/1/.264 with a 15.8 walk and strikeout rate. Yes, 15.8% for both. He’s a .380 OBP guy with power. In my rookie outlook post for him last year, I said, “So, he’s old. Not like dinosaur old, but Chase DeLauter is 23 and played less than 40 games last year in the minors. Does he have proclivity for injuries? By the way, you can’t say proclivity aloud without sounding like Dr. Evil. He battled hamstring and a fractured foot this year. Basically, a lost year. Oh, and the fractured foot was a foot he had surgery on twice before. I don’t know what’s up with his tootsies, but if they ever stage an adaption of My Left Foot, I have suggestion for the Daniel Day Lewis part.” And that’s me quoting me! And then he missed a lot of 2025. Yeah, he’s got injury issues. Sorry to keep doing this, but I also said last year, “I’ll give Chase DeLauter projections…with a chance for more (and much less since he’s never stayed on the field for longer than 60 games).” And that’s me–Well, you know.
DeLauter won’t stay on the field or might go 25/.275 in the heart of the order. Not sure there’s another option. The other wild thing is the guys who debuted in the playoffs, like DeLauter did, is a short list with Alex Kirilloff, Shane McClanahan, Adalberto Mondesi and Ryan Weathers. They almost all have the same problem. Insane upside and can’t play because hurt. Mondesi was simply cursed by my love. For 2026 fantasy baseball, I’ll give Chase DeLauter projections of 43/20/51/.271/1 in 403 ABs with a chance for more (and much less since he’s never stayed on the field for longer than 60 games — boy, that sounds familiar).
