Chase DeLauter makes inauspicious Guardians debut, but it gets better

CLEVELAND — His major league debut couldn't have come in a more pressurized situation. Chase DeLauter, the Guardians' first-round pick in 2022 from James Madison University, was in the starting lineup in center field in Cleveland's 6-1 victory Wednesday over the Detroit Tigers in Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series. The teams will play a winner-take-all Game 3 today at Progressive Field. Of course, Detroit's second batter, Gleyber Torres, hit a high fly ball to center that DeLauter dropped. "When the ball hit the ground, I was in shambles," DeLauter said. "I played the sun wrong. Unfortunately, I didn't come up with it." When he came to the dugout, starting pitcher Tanner Bibee consoled him. "He was battling the sun and the wind," Bibee said. "He dropped it. It was a hard play. I told him, 'I'm going to have your back, and you'll have mine.'" DeLauter settled down as the game went on. After catching a fly ball in the second inning, he gave the crowd a thumbs-up. He made his most-impactful play in the fourth inning when his throw nailed Zach McKinstry trying to advance to third for the final out. Detroit seemed to have taken a 2-1 lead on Javier Baez's single, but the second run was wiped off when a replay review determined Jose Ramirez's tag happened before Dillon Dingler crossed the plate. The score remained tied at 1. "Chase got here 48 hours ago," Bibee said. "He helped us win the game." DeLauter, 23, said he thought the throw was a momentum shift. "I thought the throw beat him," he said. "I thought it might be overturned (after seeing the replay). It was a real cool feeling. I felt like I was impacting the game." The 6-foot-3, 235-pounder walked in his first at-bat, grounded out in his second and lined out to center field in his third. "Of course, I wanted a hit," DeLauter said. "I was able to get on that 97-mph heater. That instilled the swagger back in my swing." The 26,669 fans embraced the rookie when his name was announced. "That's such an unreal feeling," he said. DeLauter's entire family made the five-hour drive from their home in West Virginia. The Guardians played John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" when he entered the batter's box. He said they did the same thing when he played for Triple-A Columbus this year. He said he never imagined in his wildest dreams that he'd make his debut during a postseason game. "I'm extremely grateful for it," DeLauter said. "It was nice to play in a meaningful game." He said he discussed playing in the majors with George Valera at the Guardians' complex in Arizona this year while both were rehabbing injuries. "We talked about moments like this," DeLauter said. "It was unreal playing in a must-win game." He said everything seemed to come into perspective in the seventh inning when he moved to right field. "I started to look around," DeLauter said. "It hit me a little bit (that he was in the majors). I didn't have time to process my emotions before that. It was great." Bob Finnan can be reached at rfinnan30@gmail.com.