How the Guardians Plan to Use Chase DeLauter After Injury
The Cleveland Guardians have a clear plan for Chase DeLauter as he returns from his rib injury.
Video Transcript
The Cleveland Guardians finally got some good injury news on Sunday as Chase DeLaughter returned from the injury list after suffering that rib injury with the collision with the wall just over two weeks ago at this point.
And he even came up big in the Guardians win over the Seattle Mariners with two hits, including a game-tying single in the eighth ga- eighth inning as the team's designated hitter.
But as DeLaughter gets reincorporated and gets back to big league level pitching and live at bats, remember, he didn't go on a rehab assignment.
Stephen Vogt did say the Guardians plan to use him in a very specific ro- role right now, and that's primarily as the team's designated hitter, which, like I said, is the role he had on Sunday in his return as well.
Cleveland skipper said, quote, "It's going to be similar to how his role was before, where he's going to have regular DH days, but at least for the f- foreseeable future, designated hitter.
He'll be in right field soon, but we need to make sure that he's feeling good, moving well.
It's just nice to have him back in the lineup."
And I think that using DeLaughter as a designated hitter right now is definitely the best option for the Guardians.
As Vogt said, Cleveland needs his bat in the lineup, especially with how this offense has been going r- o- over the last couple of weeks.
At the same time, th- the Guardians can't risk DeLaughter getting injured even more, especially with the injury coming in the outfield as well.
So having him primarily be a DH, focus on hitting, being a boost for this Guardians lineup is definitely the right choice.
On top of that, too, Cleveland already has quite a few options in the outfield and some very solid defensive options in the outfield as well, which should make this decision a little bit easier.
One player I think this impacts the most, though, DeLaughter's new role, is Cooper Engel, who the Guardians just called up on Friday to make his MLB debut.
And right when that happened, Vogt said the Guardians plan on using him as a designated hitter and as an outfielder.
Now, with DeLaughter mostly being the DH, that's gonna push Cooper Engel back into the outfield more, which he's still learning at the professional level.
So that'll be interesting to monitor as well.
But right now, like I said, for the Guardians to have DeLaughter back in the lineup, that's a great, that's a great ha- great to have him back.
Using him as a designated hitter to avoid any further injury and to make sure he's really, truly healthy is definitely the best option for this Guardians team.
