When Cleveland Guardians rookie right fielder Chase DeLauter fouled a Shohei Ohtani pitch off his back foot on Tuesday night, it looked like the 24-year-old himself might be the only one who could actually put a stop to his season-opening power surge.
After grounding out later in that at-bat, DeLauter left the game with a left foot contusion, and he didn’t play in the series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers the following day, although manager Stephen Vogt said DeLauter was supposed to be off regardless.
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With negative X-rays, DeLauter was confident he’d return to the lineup for the Guardians’ home opener on Friday. He was back, and the same could be said for his seismic swing, which delivered another home run in a 4-1 win over the Chicago Cubs.
DeLauter has now hit five home runs over his first seven career regular-season games, tied for the second most in such a span since at least 1900, according to MLB researcher and reporter Sarah Langs.
The only player with more in that data set is Trevor Story, who scattered seven homers across the first seven games of his rookie season with the Colorado Rockies.
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This story is being updated.
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