Another day, another Cleveland Guardians star player placed on the injured list.
For the third time in the past week, the Guardians placed a key part of their offense on the IL. First, it was superstar third baseman Jose Ramirez who fractured his hamate bone over the weekend. Then, on Tuesday, breakout star Angel Martinez hit the IL with a non-displaced fracture in his left foot. Now, ahead of their game against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Guardians placed rookie Chase DeLauter on the IL with a fractured rib, retroactive to June 14.
DeLauter's injury occurred in the same game that Ramirez injured his hamate bone, against the Detroit Tigers. The rookie outfielder was chasing down a Gleyber Torres fly ball and crashed into the outfield wall. DeLauter was diagnosed with a small fracture in his ribcage, and the team was hoping that a few days off would help him recover.
Manager Stephen Vogt was quoted as recently as Tuesday as saying that DeLauter could potentially even play through the injury with enough tolerance. Ultimately, the team decided that a few extra days off in June wouldn't be the worst thing for the rookie.
DeLauter has fit right in with Cleveland after making the Opening Day roster. He surged out of the gate, hitting five home runs in his first seven MLB games. While that power burst has slowed down, DeLauter still has a very respectable .263/.337/.408 slash line with 63 hits and a team-leading 34 RBI. With Ramirez, Martinez, and DeLauter out of the lineup, the Guardians are now missing their top three leaders in both home runs and RBI.
In a corresponding move, the Guardians have recalled outfielder Khalil Watson from Triple-A Columbus. Watson was a highly-touted prospect who was drafted in the first-round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Miami Marlins. In 56 games at Columbus, Watson has a .861 OPS with 12 home runs and 15 stolen bases. Whenever he does suit up for the Guardians, it will be Watson's MLB debut.
Cleveland has not put a timeline on DeLauter's return, although given Vogt's comments, it seems like it will be a relatively short IL stint. If all goes well, DeLauter could return as soon as June 24 for the Guardians' game against the Chicago White Sox.
