Chase DeLauter starts MLB career with historic two-homer performance: ‘He’s not from this planet’
SEATTLE — Earlier this week, four innings after Chase DeLauter clobbered a 448-foot home run in his final tuneup for the regular season, his brother texted his dad.
“He hit another.”
“What do you mean another?” his dad replied.
“Exactly that.”
Sure enough, DeLauter had tacked on a second home run at Chase Field, a declaration that he was ready for Opening Day and ready to bat between All-Stars Steven Kwan and José Ramírez in the Cleveland Guardians’ lineup.
His dad, Jason, had to see it for himself. Jason flew across the country from his home in West Virginia — his “first time flying in a long time,” DeLauter said — and sat at T-Mobile Park in a row full of friends and family members for his son’s first regular-season game. From their green seats on the third-base side of home plate, they had the perfect view of an unforgettable performance.
DeLauter smacked a slider into the right field stands in the first inning Thursday to become the fifth player in franchise history to hit a home run in his first major-league at-bat.
Chase DeLauter has arrived.
It’s not too early to start the AL Rookie of the Year conversation.#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/lFhgt8niJY
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) March 27, 2026
(Yes, last fall, DeLauter became the sixth player in league history to make his big-league debut during the postseason, but since playoff statistics don’t count toward a player’s career totals, his trips to the plate Thursday — the postscript to his debut, if you will — were technically the first ones of his career. Got all that? This has all happened in an unusual sequence, but it speaks to the Guardians’ belief in his bat.)
DeLauter joined Earl Averill (1929), Jay Bell (1986), Kevin Kouzmanoff (2006) and Jhonkensy Noel (2024) with the homer in his first at-bat.
“To dig that out, and he had two strikes,” Jason said, “it’s impressive. It really is impressive. We’re still in awe, just (having everything) sink in.”
DeLauter wasn’t done, though.
He hit another.
To cement Debut, Part Two as one for the memory banks, he swatted a second homer in the ninth inning, a 422-foot shot to right-center. DeLauter is the first player in the 126-year history of the franchise to start his career with a multi-homer game. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he’s the seventh player in major-league history to do so.
“He’s not from this planet,” said reliever Erik Sabrowski, who earlier in the week referred to DeLauter as “a f—ing martian.”
It was certainly an otherworldly effort by a 24-year-old appearing in his first regular-season game before a raucous crowd rooting for a fellow reigning division winner.
The Guardians have been waiting for this. The organization’s decision-makers said privately all winter they wanted DeLauter to stay healthy and barge his way onto the Opening Day roster. They figured he wouldn’t be fazed, and he could help them.
After all, they shocked everyone and added him to their playoff roster at the end of September, and the opportunity didn’t daunt him. Jason said DeLauter’s call-up blindsided the family. DeLauter had completed his recovery from a broken hamate bone, but he hadn’t appeared in an actual game in three months.
Still, the Guardians told him to hop in his car and drive from Columbus to Cleveland so he could patrol center field as the club attempted to stave off elimination against the Detroit Tigers.
“When he walked in and was ready to make his debut in an elimination game,” said manager Stephen Vogt, “he’s just like, ‘Yeah, I’m ready.’”
That experience, DeLauter said, was his true debut. And it allowed him to feel more at ease Thursday.
“That’s something I’ll never forget,” he said. “I won’t forget this one, either, don’t get me wrong. But all the emotions, all the feels, all the years of hard work, all the rehab, went into that game in October.”
A 2-HR game for Chase DeLauter!
His first two homers in the Majors 😱 pic.twitter.com/Cgx9ETs5jL
— MLB (@MLB) March 27, 2026
He certainly didn’t resemble a rookie in the batter’s box. DeLauter totaled three hits in his five at-bats. Aside from the two homers, he had a single and scored from first on Ramírez’s go-ahead double.
Health will ultimately guide the story of DeLauter’s 2026 season. In three full seasons in the organization, he appeared in only 138 minor-league games. He’s been a real-life Operation board game. Core muscle surgery. A broken hamate. Recurring foot issues.
It’s why he’ll spend some time at designated hitter when he’s not manning right field. He’ll even receive regular days off to keep him fresh, even though every neuron in Vogt’s brain will urge him to scribble DeLauter into the No. 2 spot in the lineup.
The Guardians will hold their breath with him all season. Their first glimpse of him, though, was breathtaking.
“I think the coolest part is he’s not afraid of the moment,” said veteran slugger Rhys Hoskins. “Maybe he doesn’t know. Maybe ignorance is bliss.”
